


Superior to Your Former Self

by interrobangme



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Brainwashing, Fix-It, Harry's Alive, M/M, Mind Control, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Post-Movie(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-03-13 07:24:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3372809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/interrobangme/pseuds/interrobangme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is found alive against all odds, but when he wakes he isn't the Kingsman they all know.</p>
<p>Obligatory "Harry's alive!" fic, with a twist.</p>
<p>COMPLETE!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not beta'd or Brit-picked.

While Eggsy explored Princess Tilde, Merlin got to work. He called for backup, for cleanup, and for medical aid, should it be needed for the prisoners being held in Valentine's compound. He hacked into the mainframe and found the codes for all the cells, decrypting as he went along so they could open automatically as they were computed. He heard Eggsy calling to him on the tiny speaker embedded in his glasses and returned to the camera feed. 

"Alright, Merlin," Eggsy cleared his throat, "what's the plan for all these other nice folks holed up in these cells? Much as I enjoy the personal touch of a door-to-door visit, I don't think they ALL need the royal treatment, hm?" The camera showed the princess giggling as she buttoned up her shirt. 

Merlin glanced at his watch. Eggsy had been in congress with the princess for all of... Eleven minutes? He laughed to himself. Royal treatment indeed. For all his talk, Eggsy was still just a boy, but Merlin was looking forward to watching him grow into a man.

"I've started unlocking the cells, but it'll take time. The computer has to work each one individually so just walk around, see if you can spot any opening up. Try to explain to the prisoners to keep calm and that help is on the way. I've got crews inbound now."

"Thank God for that, or it would be a hell of a crowded plane ride. And I don't know about you, Princess, but I'm not ever flying coach again."

Merlin stepped off the plane to the sound of more Swedish giggling in his ear. He strode to the holding cells, machine gun in his hands more out of habit than precaution. He saw Eggsy and Princess Tilde rushing off down the left corridor. He figured he'd hear more than enough of their inane banter on the ride home and took the right corridor. 

He could hear some cell doors swinging open from Eggsy's end of things ("Ah, didn't peg Valentine as an Iggy fan. Give us a freestyle, love?") and walked on. 

At last a door on his side clicked open and he hustled forward. No one met him at the door. Surely someone who'd been trapped in a cell for who knows how long would be eager to get out when they heard it unlocking.

Merlin approached more warily now, double-checking that the safety was off on his machine gun. He swung the door open and scanned the room before him. Plush seating, red velvet upholstery, plenty of food and comfort. His gaze stopped on the prone figure lying sprawled across the bed.

It was Galahad. 

A small, choked sound escaped Merlin's throat. He darted to Harry's side, hoping for the impossible. As he got closer he could clearly see the round bullet hole in the center of Harry's forehead. His face had been cleaned up of all the blood and tissue that had spilled his life out onto his glasses. 

Merlin's face hardened. He'd been piqued enough thinking Valentine left Harry's body outside that church in Kentucky, inauspiciously heaped in with the closed-minded freaks inside, but that was par for the course at least. No spy went to his grave expecting a burial and flowers, let alone from their enemy. 

But taking Harry's corpse and bringing it here, locking it away like some prize to be visited at leisure, made Merlin wish Valentine wasn't dead just so he could get his hands on him. 

He reached out to place one hand gently on his dear friend's, trying to recall the last time they'd touched. He leaped back and nearly fell over when he felt that Harry's hand was warm. 

"Eggsy," he called, tapping the arm of his glasses to ensure the young agent heard him. "I need you here now. Right corridor, ninth door on the left side." 

"Sure thing." 

Merlin returned to Harry's side cautiously. He loosened Harry's tie and unbuttoned his collar. Blood from the fight in Kentucky still stained his collar and cuffs. Merlin lightly dragged a thumb along Harry's jawline. He gazed at the pale pallor of the body before him, the utter stillness. As he focused he could detect a flicker of a pulse at odd intervals, leaping from Harry's neck. When Merlin squatted beside him, he could see the faintest rattle of breath rising with Harry's chest. 

It didn't make sense. He must be dead. 

He reached out and held Harry's wrist, counting as he stared at his watch. The pulse was too low to be truly alive, and yet here he was, warm to the touch. 

Despite his questions and his fears, Merlin allowed himself a glimmer of hope. If anyone had the resources to bring Harry back, it was the Kingsmen. 

He took off his glasses and used them to perform a few routine scans to ensure Harry's body wasn't wired to any kind of explosive device, bearing in mind Valentine's fondness for bombs.

Eggsy ran to him after an initial stumble at the doorway. "That can't be him, fuck's sake."

"It is, and he's... somewhat alive. I don't want to make any promises," he said, noting the tears that sprang into Eggsy's eyes. "He's got a bullet in his head and his pulse is weaker than any living human's. I don't know if this is some twisted trick of Valentine's but we won't know much until we get him back to HQ."

Eggsy nodded, for once out of words.

"I've done a scan and he's not rigged to explode or anything like that, so I think we should lift him on three. Are you ready?" 

Eggsy grabbed at Harry's legs. Merlin swung the machine gun over his shoulder and wrapped his arms around Harry's too-still torso. "1, 2, 3."

They heaved and held Harry between them. They slowly made their way out the cell door, carefully avoiding the people running past in all directions. Together they reached the plane and strapped Harry into a seat. Merlin set it to recline, as if the strange undead phenomenon would appreciate the comfort. 

Merlin readied the aircraft for take-off. Eggsy sat beside Harry, staring down at the man. He seemed both terrified and delighted. 

"Alright, Eggsy, let's get out of this place and get you both home." Merlin flipped a few switches and the plane taxied down the runway. Take-off was smooth and once they reached altitude he allowed himself a glance back to the cabin. Harry was the same, but Eggsy was half asleep beside him, sitting up in his seat with one hand tucked into Harry's arm. 

Merlin smiled sadly as he returned to the controls. He plotted the course and allowed his mind to come up with possibilities for Harry's survival. Severe brain damage, a coma, a vegetative state--no good possibilities. He steeled himself to cope with Harry's loss for a second time. 

His efforts were shot to hell when he heard Eggsy yelp in the cabin. Merlin turned around, clicking on the autopilot, only to be met by Harry towering over him at the entrance to the cockpit. 

His sickly pallor remained. His eyes locked with Merlin's.

They were red. 

"H-Harry -" was all Merlin managed to get out before Harry's hands wrapped around his throat and squeezed.


	2. Chapter 2

Merlin pulled frantically at Harry's hands around his throat. Harry just squeezed harder, bashing Merlin against the cockpit wall. Merlin could see the muscles of Harry's forearm bulging through his suit jacket.

He stared into the ring of crimson irises around Harry's pupils. He clawed at Harry's arms, knowing it was a useless effort as he saw the edges of his vision going black. 

He'd always considered the possibility of dying in Harry's arms, but not like this. His eyes fluttered closed and his hands fell to his sides.

With a thump he was freed from the circle of steely fingers. He gasped for air, coughing as he scrambled away from a stunned Harry. Eggsy stood behind the older agent, clutching a handgun by the barrel. 

"Oi! Fuck's the matter with you, mate?" 

Harry turned, red eyes unblinking as they settled on Eggsy. Harry lunged for the boy as Merlin got to his feet.

"Eggsy, no!" 

As Harry dove to get a grip on Eggsy--who proved surprisingly slippery even in the small space of the plane--Merlin jumped on Harry's back. He looped his arms around Harry's, pinning him in a full nelson. 

Harry thrashed from side to side, standing up again almost effortlessly despite the weight of a grown man on his back. 

Eggsy looked uncertain and trained the gun on his mentor.

"Your watch, Eggsy!" 

Eggsy adjusted the dial on his watch and aimed it at Harry's neck. Merlin ducked his head as best he could while being kicked at by the heels of Harry's shoes.

The small dart embedded itself in Harry's neck and only enraged him further.

"Eggsy--" Merlin clung harder as Harry swung back and forth, attempting to shake him loose. "In the back, with the guns--" Harry charged backwards, ramming Merlin into some seats. "There's a large tranquilizer in the red box!"

Eggsy bolted into the back of the plane. Merlin could hear him opening up the compartment where the small armory was hidden. 

Harry reached behind him and held Merlin's head in place. Merlin felt a brief sense of foreboding as the tables turned. Harry dropped backwards, onto the floor. Merlin twisted awkwardly, trying to free himself before hitting the ground. He heard a crack from somewhere in his body as the wind was knocked out of him. 

Harry climbed up as Eggsy returned. "Merlin, are you--oh, shite."

Harry barreled towards Eggsy, who dodged to the side. Harry grabbed him, as he clambored over seatbacks while trying to twist together the syringe containing the tranquilizer. 

Harry yanked the boy back by his collar. Eggsy dropped the tranquilizer and squirmed, banging against rows of seats as Harry pulled him closer. 

"No! Harry, don't!" If anyone was going to bear the brunt of Harry's attacks, it sure as hell wouldn't be the kid they'd worked so hard for. Harry would never forgive himself.

Merlin got his feet under him and charged, staying low to the ground. He tackled Harry to the floor. Eggsy rolled sideways as he fell from Harry's grasp. He found the syringe and turned back to where the two older agents were fighting.

Merlin straddled Harry and tried to pin the larger man's arms to the floor. Harry pulled sharply on Merlin's arm. Merlin felt a pop as his arm dislocated. Merlin grunted and reached for his shoulder. Harry took advantage of the opportunity, rolling and switching their positions. 

Harry reached back, his hand in a fist. Merlin blocked the punches as well as he could with one arm. Eggsy appeared over Harry's shoulder and jabbed him in the neck with the needle. He pushed on the plunger and watched as the bright blue liquid disappeared into Harry. 

Merlin felt the strength of Harry's legs giving out, no longer pinning his own together. He crumpled forward, landing with his head to the side of Merlin's neck as if sleeping. 

For a moment there was nothing but breathing. Merlin broke the silence first. He looked up at Eggsy, who stared at Harry like he'd never seen him before. 

"Get him off me, will you? My shoulder's dislocated."

"Right, sorry." Eggsy heaved Harry to the side and Merlin wriggled out from under him. 

With effort, they laid Harry out on a few reclined seats and created restraints out of several criss-crossing seatbelts. Harry lay with his head lolling to the side, looking like a fly caught in a web.

Merlin retrieved all the tranquilizers and handed them to Eggsy, pocketing one for himself as he limped back to the cockpit. "That was enough to knock out a horse, but I don't know how long he'll be unconscious. Keep an eye on him," Merlin called over his shoulder.

"And here I was planning on spending the flight with my thumb up my arse," Eggsy answered, unable to inject any levity into the joke.

Merlin didn't waste his energy answering. He merely grunted and checked their course. 

"Merlin?" Eggsy called from the cabin. Merlin snapped his head around and was halfway to his feet, pulling the tranquilizer out in a blink. "Sorry mate, he's fine." 

Merlin huffed and replaced the tube to his pocket. He collapsed back into his seat. "What is it, Eggsy?"

"I was just wondering, aren't we going to pick up Roxy? You know, three heads are better than one and all that? A few extra arms and legs could come in handy too," he said, looking back at Harry's inert form. 

"She's got tickets to London and a snowmobile headed her way," Merlin answered. "But I think we can make the stop." He gingerly placed his limp arm in his lap. The thought of not being able to keep Harry from pummeling Eggsy was not comforting. 

"Lancelot, your chariot awaits," he called, tapping the side of his glasses to change frequencies.

***

The flight to HQ went smoothly. Roxy was debriefed on the discovery of Harry and given several tranquilizers to keep on her person at all times. It was a tense ride, but Harry never stirred.

Once they'd reached HQ, Merlin insisted that the staff doctors saw to Eggsy and Harry first. Eggsy tried to push him into being treated first, saying "What would Harry have wanted you to do?" He gestured at Merlin's swaying arm. 

"Keep you in one piece," Merlin answered, stalking off to where the doctors had taken Harry.

Dr. Marshall attended to Merlin after assuring him Harry wasn't about to die (again), or spring awake and throttle the nearest person (again). 

"He was breathing so shallowly when I found him," Merlin informed the doctor as he set his shoulder. Merlin hissed as it was popped back into place. 

"Yes, I know, Merlin. You told me before," Dr. Marshall said patiently. He gently dabbed antiseptic at some cuts on Merlin's face. 

"And his pulse was lower than I've ever seen."

"I know. Believe me, I've checked it all out. His vitals are nearly back to normal after his initial... awakening--" Merlin huffed, and Dr. Marshall went on, "and I have him on some IV drips to keep him unconscious while we figure out what's going on. I've removed the bullet from his head for your review when we're done here."

Merlin gave in to the doctor's ministrations and hurried next door to Harry's room as soon as he was relatively patched up.

***

"Nice wing," Eggsy said as he strode into Harry's room, pointing at Merlin's new sling. Merlin barely glanced up. He sat beside Harry, hunched over a magnifier, examining something small and metallic held in tweezers.

"Is that it?" Eggsy's voice was more hushed now. "The bullet?" 

Merlin looked up at him and nodded. "The doctor got it out an hour ago without any problems."

Eggsy snorted. "'Problems' doesn't do it justice. He was worse on the plane than he was in that church. Good thing Valentine nicked all his gear before we found him."

"Fair point," Merlin conceded. "As far as I can tell," he pushed back from the small table he'd been working over, "this isn't a bullet at all."

He allowed a moment for Eggsy to produce the eyebrow quirk of befuddlement he did so well. 

"It's a projectile, certainly, but it looks as if half of it has degraded. The 'bullet' was divided into two halves, like chambers. The half facing outward exploded upon impact, gushing with what looked like blood and brain matter. I've done some analysis, and I'll need the tech department to get back to me to know for sure, but I think it was synthetic blood and tissue, meant to look like he'd been shot and killed."

"And why would Valentine want to do that?" Eggsy maintained his puzzled look, leaning closer to the object pinched between tweezers.

"That's where the other chamber comes in. It's some kind of nanotechnology, similar to the sim cards, but able to root to the human brain. I don't know if it worked exactly the same, but it suppressed his inhibitors and turned on the aggressive center of the brain, like he did before. Judging by the red eyes," he glanced back at Harry and his face softened, "I'd say some kind of biomechanical interference." 

"And in English, that would be?"

Merlin slowly exhaled. "It's like Valentine made Harry into a robot, with flesh. All he was programmed to do was kill. His brain was flooded with radio waves propelled by the bullet, which also injected him with some chemical cocktail to keep him in stasis until after we found him. Valentine must have had some kind of sedation technique--a switch, a needle, anything--which wore off after he neglected to activate it for a few hours."

"After we killed him."

"Precisely."

Eggsy sucked his teeth for a moment. "Makes sense, since Valentine was so tetchy about blood. Didn't seem like he'd really shoot anybody."

The sound of running footsteps had them both turning to look at the door. Roxy burst in and made for Merlin. She handed over a sheaf of papers. 

"Synthetic blood, tissue, all of it," she said. "You were right."

Merlin pored over the data. Roxy and Eggsy looked at each other, then at Harry.

"So now that the bullet, or the chip, or whatever, is out," Eggsy began, "Harry'll be alright. He'll be back to normal?"

Merlin blinked. He looked at Eggsy, but couldn't stop his gaze from landing on Harry. "I don't know. I do hope so, Eggsy."


	3. Chapter 3

"Y'know, you never did tell me about how you got recruited," Eggsy said, looking through his Kingsman glasses at Roxy across the mahogany table. "I'm pretty sure the ban of silence is lifted by now, eh?"

Roxy tilted her head and pushed her own glasses into place as they tipped. They were waiting for instructions to pop up in the painting above the table. They were summoned ten minutes ago, rushed upstairs, and had been essentially twiddling their thumbs since.

"Well," Roxy began, leaning her head on one hand, bored, "it's a bit of a long story as to how I got there, but I tried to pick Percival's pocket at a gala."

Eggsy's eyebrows shot up. "You tried to nick a Kingsman's wallet?!"

"Not just tried," a smooth voice in their ears interrupted. "She succeeded." 

Roxy and Eggsy startled as one, hastening to sit up straight and gaze up at the painting. Percival's image stared back at them from inside the frame, smirking.

"Hullo, Roxy, Eggsy," he said, nodding to each of them in turn.

"Sir," they both acknowledged.

"I suppose you're ready for your next assignment?"

The young agents nodded. 

"Good. Your mission is to tail this man," Percival's likeness dissolved, and the image of a scruffy young man glowed onscreen. "He's twenty-three, a genius, and being courted by every major tech corporation in the world."

Roxy squinted a bit at the painting above her, trying to adjust the glasses, which were slightly too big for her face. She'd have to ask Merlin for an adjustment.

"His name is Tom Bergan, and he'll be at a museum opening tonight to be wined and dined by a few potential employers."

"Are we gonna take him out? Kidnap him? Pinch his briefcase for evidence?" Eggsy asked.

Roxy tutted at him. 

Percival returned on the screen. "Nothing that exciting, Eggsy. The British government merely has an interest in who Mr. Bergan decides to work with. You're strictly to observe."

Eggsy slouched in his seat. Roxy snapped a sideways glance at him and returned her eyes to the screen.

"Gather information on who he sees, how he acts, what he likes--anything. Just don't give him a reason to remember you. We may need to employ some more direct methods of persuasion down the line," at this Eggsy perked up a bit, "should he choose the wrong path. Any questions?"

"No, Perc."

"Nah, I think we can handle a little light stalking," Eggsy answered, half-smiling.

"Good. In that case, I'll be in your ear if you need me." Percival faded away, and Roxy and Eggsy put away their glasses.

"Looks like we've got a job to prepare for," Roxy said, turning to Eggsy as they walked out of the room.

"Yeah, some job. We could do the same thing with a few security cameras and a notepad."

"Cheer up, Eggsy. Maybe it'll be more exciting than you think."

"I s'pose so. And who knows? Maybe you'll tell me that long story."

"Perhaps," she answered primly, walking into a fitting room where she would change, "if you behave and I can't find anyone worth talking to."

She closed the door behind her. Eggsy grinned.

***

Merlin listened to the steady beep of Harry's heart monitor. The doctor had offered to mute it when he realized that Merlin had been sitting beside the bed all day, watching the rise and fall of Harry's chest as the sun rose and set behind him.

Merlin declined. He liked the reminder that somehow Harry was alive, that his heart was beating in spite of what Valentine had done to him.

He looked over at Harry, his sleeping face framed in moonlight from the window. Tubes ran up and down the length of Harry's arm, leading to a machine next to him. He was on dialysis, essentially. Merlin and Dr. Marshall determined Harry's blood was affected by the toxins in the bullet Valentine made. They'd been flushing his blood of chemicals and tiny micro-transmitters all day. 

"Tomorrow the dialysis will be finished," the doctor had assured Merlin, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Tonight, really. While we're all asleep."

Merlin nodded, tempted to shake off the hand and the indirect advice. 

"And then," Dr. Marshall took a long breath, "we'll wake him up."

Merlin pursed his lips.

"And what happens then?"

"Well, no matter how much we do he isn't going to be fully rid of the effects of the toxin. We've removed the hardware--the bullet and the technology inside it--but whatever it was coated in has polluted Galahad's bloodstream, his organs, even his brain. He's bound to have relapses as his body filters through the last of the stuff on its own."

"And how do you want to deal with it? The relapses," Merlin asked, although he thought he already knew.

"We'll keep him restrained, contained to this room. Perhaps introduce some people he knows, at a safe distance, to see if the stimulus of memory is stronger than the aftereffects of the drug. But other than that," the doctor held his hands palms-up, "there isn't much we can do but wait and observe. I'm inviting a few of my colleagues of course," he said quickly. "There's a lot we can learn from this."

Steely silence filled the room. "I know how hard this must be for you, and I feel for Galahad, I really do," his hand returned uninvited to Merlin's shoulder, "but he'd want us to gather data so this doesn't happen again, or so we're better equipped to cope with it next time."

"Would it be possible for him to burn through all the remaining toxins at once? Get it over in one go?"

"Well, I think he'd have to work it off in some kind of rampage. He's not likely to use up all the stores of chemicals and hormones while he's strapped down, is he? No," the doctor concluded, shaking his head, "he'll have to get through it in bits and pieces. It will take some time."

And so Merlin had sat at Harry's side thinking things over. He understood that Harry was dangerous and would need to be restrained when he woke. He even understood that a group of doctors could study the event and learn for the future, possibly even help Harry's recovery.

But better than he knew the truth of that, he knew that Harry was a very private person. 

_"You might want to talk to him about sharing his password."_

As a spy, privacy was hard-won. A moment truly alone was cherished. Secrets kept close to the heart were more likely to be of laughter and quiet nights than nuclear codes.

Harry would suffer enough when he came back to himself, after being through this hell. He didn't need to be put on display. 

Merlin looked at Harry again. He was changed into a hospital gown during his exam, but Merlin managed to switch him into his favorite silk pajamas. He'd sent Roxy to retrieve them from Harry's apartment, not wanting to leave him alone. He considered sending Eggsy, since the boy was obviously in need of distraction. He'd been wreaking havoc in the tailor shop and riding back and forth on the shuttle to check on Harry. Merlin knew if he sent Eggsy to Harry's the kid would feel useful, busy, maybe a little trusted.

But he'd also snoop through Harry's drawers, and probably nick Mr. Pickles for a lark.

Merlin looked down at Harry's hand in his and squeezed. "I'll be right back, Harry." Harry slept on as Merlin strode purposefully into the hall.

He knew what he needed to do.

***

Roxy dodged a punch from a burly Scandinavian man, yanking him by the knees so he toppled over into two of his thugs.

"What did I tell you?" she called into the link in her glasses. "More exciting than you'd thought!"

"Ay!" Eggsy agreed, running the length of a banquet table, sending finger sandwiches and crab cakes flying. He leaped off the table and onto the back of a muscular Italian, who fell to the ground. 

Eggsy sprang back up and kept running. "Where do you think? The balcony?"

"Yeah, I'll meet you up there." Roxy proceeded to disentangle herself from a circle of angry men, kicking out with electrified stilettos.

"Alright, Percy," Eggsy said as Roxy walked towards him on the balcony level. "We've regrouped and have a pretty choice view. Are you getting this?" He trained his eyes on one half of the gallery below him while Roxy focused her glasses on the other. 

Percival tsked into their ears. "It's a bloody shame, hor d'eourves and blood getting on those paintings. They had such lively brushstrokes."

"I'll keep an eye on the Boticellis for you, Perc," Roxy said. "But for now, how do we proceed? Should we retrieve the target?"

The evening had been going smoothly, if a bit dull. Roxy and Eggsy monitored Tom Bergan from opposite sides of the gallery, sipping champagne and weaving in and out of the crowds. Eggsy had just started pestering Roxy through their link ("Nothing to do here, love. What's say we swipe a nice painting for the bathroom at HQ?") when the fighting broke out. 

Apparently, Bergan had invited all of his potential employers to the event at once--warring rebel factions, representatives of foreign governments, everyone. It was a miracle they'd lasted this long without blowing up the whole museum.

"Hmm," Percival began. "Keep an eye on him. Try to keep him from getting killed, I suppose," Eggsy thought he sounded almost disappointed. "He could prove useful, if lacking in common sense."

"You never have dates with two birds in one night," Eggsy answered. "If there's anything I've learned from watching too many sitcoms on telly, it's that it can only end badly."

"Precisely," Percival answered. "If he does manage to get kidnapped by one of the more nasty terrorist cells, retrieve him, would you? We don't want him working with them in any case."

"Sure thing," Roxy said. 

The fighting made its way up the stairs towards them now. A few staggeringly drunk agents of other organizations seemed to think it would be a good idea to jump into the fray from the balcony. 

Eggsy and Roxy managed to get entangled with them ("Oi, you pricks, you're blocking my bloody view!"). The pair of agents fled for cover as the rival group took aim and fired. 

"Honestly, no one ever appreciates a good fist-fight anymore," Roxy said, crawling behind a sturdy metal sculpture. 

Eggsy fired off a few rounds, clipping the ringleader in the shoulder, then joined her. 

"Let's hope Bergan at least has enough sense to hide before someone carries him off like a princess," he said.

Roxy laughed, but stopped short when her ear filled with the sound of alarms. She nearly ran for the exit, but looked at Eggsy clutching his glasses and knew it was from HQ. 

"Keep it down, Percy, mummy and daddy are working!" he shouted.

"I'm afraid I can't disable the alarms," the smooth voice sounded slightly frayed. "Harry's vitals spiked, he's woken up. The doctor can't reach him. Something's wrong with the security locks on Harry's door--no one can get in."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few more chapters to go, I think. Thanks for all the comments and kudos! They make my day :)
> 
> Edit: Hm, for some reason AO3 is showing this update after ten fics that were posted before I updated. Is this happening to anyone else or just general wonkyness?

"I'll be right back, Harry."

As Merlin walked down the hallway, he tapped the side of his glasses so the video feed of the infirmary room would stream on his left lens. If Harry were awake, he'd badger Merlin about his overprotectiveness, but after everything they'd been through lately, he wasn't about to leave Harry alone. 

Merlin reached his workshop and gathered what he needed. He took a tablet down from the wall, specialized to his security standards, uncrackable by anyone but him. He retrieved the suit jacket he'd left on the back of his chair days before. 

He stood before the wall of weapons for a moment. He took down a handgun and held it in his palm, feeling the weight of it. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.

He returned the gun to the wall and moved on.

As he reentered the medical wing, he turned into a few rooms and took whatever supplies weren't nailed down--a few first aid kits, some painkillers, even a canister of laughing gas. All Kingsman agents were trained in basic medical care, just enough to keep themselves from falling apart after tough missions.

He returned to Harry's room, flicked off the feed in his glasses, and closed the thick metal door behind him. He stashed the supplies in various drawers of the nightstand beside Harry, hoping they'd be relatively untouched later on.

He stood leaning against the far wall, too tense to sit. He turned on the tablet and got to work hacking into the security system he designed. Warnings popped up, rerouted from the computer in his office. He cleared each one with a password and his thumbprint. He overrode all the measures he'd put in place to ensure no one could gain control of the locks. 

The door sounded a hollow _kerchunk_ a few feet from him. A final warning popped up, filling his entire screen with a flashing red text box: "WARNING: SECURITY BREACH. INFIRMARY LOCKS, ROOM 217, ENGAGED. FALLOUT PROCEDURES IN PLACE." 

He dismissed it and watched as metal bars lowered from the ceiling to cage the windows behind Harry's bed. He locked the tablet and hid it under the first aid kits in the nightstand.

If he had timed it right, Harry's dialysis should be ending right about--

 _Beep._

The machine beside Harry drained the tubes of blood and whirred to a stop, finished. 

He walked over, reaching for the IV drip. He slid the valve closed, cutting off the stream of sedatives. 

"I'm sorry, Harry. This is going to hurt."

***

Eggsy dove out from behind the sculpture and emptied his clip into the men shooting at them. Roxy ran out from the other side, disabling the last man standing when Eggsy ran out of bullets.

Eggsy jogged towards the stairs, looking for the nearest exit. Roxy grabbed him by his collar and pulled, hard. He nearly yelped.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"We have to go back!" Eggsy shouted over the noise downstairs.

"Eggsy, Bergan has made his way upstairs and is cowering behind a potted plant, in case you hadn't noticed."

Eggsy turned and saw the scruffy young prodigy crouched between leaves. 

"Harry's in danger," Eggsy whined, knowing as he said it that it was a lost cause. 

"Eggsy," Roxy released his collar and squeezed his shoulder, "the only danger to Harry right now is himself. There's nothing we can do."

She let her hand fall to her side and backed away, turning to pummel a few rogues who had started climbing the balcony, drunkenly oblivious to the staircase.

Eggsy sighed. He could still hear the alarms in his ear, although Percival had managed to turn them down somewhat. 

"Do you need me to tell you the same thing, or do you already know?" Percival said in his ear, softly. 

"Nah," he turned and looked at Roxy flipping full-grown men over her shoulder, "I know." He tore off and joined the fray.

***

"Bill. Bill?" Harry blinked up at Merlin.

"Harry!" Merlin breathed, immediately coming face to face with him. He reached out and stroked a thumb down Harry's cheek.

"What--" Harry stopped the clear his throat, and Merlin handed him a glass of water. When he had taken a drink, Harry went on. "What the bloody hell happened to you?"

Merlin nearly laughed at the insanity of it all. "Nothing, a consequence of Valentine's demise. The point is you're alive."

"So it would seem... Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" Merlin schooled his features to appear calm.

Harry tilted his head and smirked. "Like you're hiding something. Like you're feeling guilty."

There was silence for a moment. "I wouldn't be a very good spy if I gave away when I was guilty, Harry."

"And I wouldn't be a very good boyfriend if I didn't know when you were upset," Harry countered, sitting up and leaning closer to Merlin. He reached out for Merlin's sling. "Please, tell me what's wrong?"

Merlin looked at him, chewing at his lip. "It's just... good to see your eyes again. It's been too long."

Harry smiled. "You're not getting off that eas--"

"We haven't got much time," Merlin interrupted, standing and pacing the room. He paused by the door and carefully removed his sling. He rolled his shoulders backwards and forwards, testing his limits.

"Why? What's going on?" Harry asked, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, perching. 

Merlin continued to look away. He faced the wall and turned his head slightly, speaking to Harry over his shoulder. He slowly rolled up his sleeves. 

"Do you remember Versailles, Harry?"

Harry frowned. He'd been to Versailles many times, but the look in Merlin's eyes could only mean he was referring to one thing. "The night we got together? You're being sentimental. I must be dying."

Merlin whirled around. "You're not going to die," he said, probably with more force than necessary.

"I just need you to remember," he went on, "what happened that night, and after."

"Well," Harry did his best to feign thoughtfulness, "I believe that was the night I broke your nose."

"And I cracked your rib." Merlin smiled at last. 

Harry stood and walked to him. "Oh, to be young and frustrated and unable to express one's feelings!" 

Merlin snorted. He looked down and his smile fell. "Look, Harry, I don't have time to explain everything. It's a lot to take in."

Harry stood in front of him now, their faces an inch apart. Harry took Merlin's hands in his, placing them on his shoulders. He left them there, where they circled his neck of their own accord, and put his own hands on Merlin's waist. 

"Out with it," he said quietly, touching his forehead to Merlin's.

"Something is about to happen," Merlin cleared his throat, "and you're not going to like it. But I need you to remember Versailles, to remember that nothing can break us. Not even each other."

Harry drew back, face serious at last.

"Alright?" Merlin asked.

Harry looked into his eyes and nodded solemnly. "Alright. I trust you."

Merlin brought his lips to Harry's. They pulled apart after a moment, and Harry smirked at him. 

"Now that's more like it." 

Merlin whacked his shoulder. "Shut it." 

Harry's face fell. His body went rigid in Merlin's arms. 

"Bill?" He asked, breathing heavily, stumbling backwards.

"I'm here, Harry, I'm here. I'm sorry."

When their eyes met again, Harry's were flecked with crimson. Merlin took a deep breath and braced himself. Harry lunged.

***

Roxy leaped over Eggsy, who was lying on the plush carpet, army-crawling to the edge of the balcony.

Upon landing, Roxy was met with a brass-knuckled fist coming towards her face. She dodged easily, then adjusted her stance to kick the tall man squarely in the chest. He fell hard, and behind her, Eggsy called out "Timberrrr!" from his position on the floor.

She laughed, darting past another ham-fisted punch. "You know," she called to Eggsy, "you could give me a hand up here. I'm fairly certain," she grunted, heaving a sweaty thug over the balcony, "that the floor is secure."

"And mess up your flow?" Eggsy sniped a few incoming men wielding guns from his position, a commandeered rifle in his arms. "Wouldn't dream of it!"

The mob of attackers swarming them was made up of agents of terrorist cells,drug lords, even legitimate governments. None had broken through to the young techie genius shaking in his boots behind them. But still, they'd been fighting for some time, and Roxy was starting to feel the strain. If Eggsy's determination to stay on the floor was any indication, he was losing steam as well. 

"Percival," Roxy said to the man at the other end of their link, "I know you said not to interfere and all, but I can't help but feel like that's not a concern, considering there's a museum full of people brawling over this guy."

"Amen to that!" Eggsy huffed, using his signet ring to electrocute a Russian woman who had been jabbing at his face with her heels.

"Hm?" Percival answered, his voice distracted. "Oh yes, right. Interference all around, tally-ho!"

Roxy and Eggsy rolled their eyes at each other, impressive since they were both in hand to hand combat at the time.

"Look Percy," Eggsy said, "I've had my fill of art for the night. Can we just nick this guy and go home already? We can watch him better from HQ anyways."

"Mhm, mhm," Percival answered. "Whatever you'd like."

Roxy and Eggsy glanced at each other again.

"Perc?" Roxy called. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, perfectly fine!" He answered quickly. 

"It's just that 'Whatever you'd like' doesn't seem to be the most official answer regarding the conclusion of a mission," Eggsy said. "If that were the case, I'd be drowning in Guinness and pizza right now."

Percival huffed. "Roxy, Eggsy," he said shortly, "I am not a handler for Kingsman agents. I _am_ a Kingsman agent. I'm not Arthur, and I'm certainly not Merlin." His voice was rising fast now, sharp with frustration. "Which means that as much as I'd like to help you, there isn't much I can do while I'm on my own mission in a hotel room in bloody Cairo, trying to keep one eye on you lot, and using the other to try and hack into HQ's security to get Galahad's door open. It doesn't help that Merlin has deactivated his glasses feed and is nowhere to be found, the sneaky bastard," he ended squeakily.

"Alright, Perc, we're sorry," Roxy answered, never wanting to hear the man's voice that high again. 

"Yeah mate, nothing to worry about. We'll just grab Bergan and take off," Eggsy said.

The pair of agents made their way back to the plant Bergan had been hiding behind, as Percival sighed. 

"Thank you. It's just a lot going on at once I don't know anything about Merlin's codes! He's a mastermind, and," he grew louder now, "I'll bet you my own shoes that he's in there with Harry anyways."

Eggsy frowned. They reached the corner with the plant and Roxy pushed it to the side.

"Oh, fuck me," Eggsy exclaimed.

Tom Bergan was gone.

***

Merlin slid between Harry's legs, narrowly avoiding being grabbed. He panted, dodging from side to side as Harry swiped at him.

Time flowed like water, slipping by, unable to be counted. They'd been fighting for minutes, hours, days--there was no way of knowing. Merlin had disconnected their glasses beforehand, effectively cutting them off from Kingsman, from everything. 

The darkness outside began to lighten, but Merlin didn't notice. He knew nothing but the rush of blood in his ears and his next move. Harry knew even less.

Merlin caught Harry with a knee, sending the agent stumbling back a few steps. Merlin took advantage of the distraction to grab Harry's ankle, pulling him to the ground. He'd been doing all he could to tire Harry out, hoping he could work all of the rage out of his system at once.

Harry leveraged his weight against the wall, pulling himself back up. He breathed heavily and made his way over to Merlin with less grace than before. 

Merlin picked up the nearest object--the lamp, taken from the nightstand--and tossed it at Harry's head. Even weakened, Harry's reactions were automatic, and Merlin knew he'd knock the lamp away easily, but would use some energy doing so. 

Harry plucked the lamp from the air and sent it soaring back at Merlin. Merlin ducked as it exploded against the wall, glass showering down on him. 

Harry was on top of him suddenly, dragging him by the leg into the middle of the room. Merlin twisted, hands latching onto the legs of the hospital bed and pulling it with him. Harry grunted with the effort of pulling the weight. 

He released Merlin's leg and turned around, making a fist, but Merlin was already leaping up at him. Merlin snatched Harry's wrists as he tripped backwards, and tried to pin them to the wall. Harry threw him off, ramming his shoulder into Merlin's chest. 

Harry reached for the canister of nitrous oxide Merlin had hidden under the bed. He held it over his head, looking at Merlin beneath him, and smashed it down.

Merlin rolled out of the way as the canister hit the ground with a clang. He bounced back onto his feet and grabbed Harry's wrists, bending them backwards until he released the metal canister. He didn't want to hurt Harry, but if he was knocked unconscious, or killed, he feared no one would be able to unlock the door and help Harry.

The canister fell. Harry heaved his whole body at Merlin, banging both of them into the door. He swung lazily and Merlin blocked his punches with tired arms. As Harry's movements grew more sluggish, so did Merlin's, and he knew he couldn't defend himself for much longer.

As Harry tilted to swing at him, Merlin dropped to the floor, bolting sideways around Harry's legs. Harry turned, and turned, and turned, as Merlin circled him, bouncing from side to side like a boxer.

Merlin jabbed, his arms moving faster than Harry could block. Merlin could see the sheen of sweat on Harry's forehead, the hunch of his posture. 

Merlin kicked at Harry's shin, and Harry fell to the ground. He squirmed slightly, as if to get up, but stayed where he was. Merlin approached him warily, from the side. He dropped to his knees, his hands still in fists framing his face. 

"Harry?" He asked the prone figure on the floor. Heavy breathing filled the silence. Merlin reached to turn Harry's face towards him, and Harry sat up, clipping Merlin on the ear but otherwise wasting his strength. 

He collapsed, his arm going limp over Merlin's shoulder, his head leaning on Merlin's chest. Merlin held him. 

He tilted Harry's chin up. Harry's eyes fluttered open. Merlin looked into them and watched as the red seeped from his eyes as he pulled Harry in closer. 

"Bill," Harry wheezed.

"It's alright." Merlin fully sat on the floor now, adjusting Harry's torso in his arms. Harry pressed deeper into the dip of Merlin's shoulder.

"What's happening to me?" He asked quietly, his eyes closing already.

"It's alright now, Harry. It's all over." Merlin clutched him tighter, leaning his head on Harry's. "It's over."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, slightly fluffy update today :)

Although Harry was unconscious, Merlin soothed him for several minutes, rubbing his arm and telling him everything would be alright. Some part of himself asked whether he was doing this for Harry or to take time to gather his strength, but the rest of him was battered and exhausted and told the other part to shut it and keep sitting.

Eventually, Merlin eased himself out from under Harry, taking care to hold Harry's head in his hands as he lowered him to the floor. Merlin fetched the first aid kit from the knocked-over bedside table. His shoes crunched over glass as they made their way back to Harry. 

Merlin frowned at Harry lying on the floor, which was spotted with blood from the fight. He looked from the first aid kit in his hand to the hospital bed, and back at Harry. He wanted to put Harry back in the bed before he got to work on him, but listened to the twinge in his muscles that was rapidly becoming an ache. He wouldn't have the strength to do much after lifting Harry.

He dropped to his heels and opened up the kit. He poured hydrogen peroxide onto some gauze and dabbed lightly at Harry's wounds. He stroked Harry's hand reflexively, knowing the man always hissed in pain and whined when subjected to the routine procedure of wound-cleaning. Harry slept on. 

When the myriad of scrapes had been tended to, Merlin examined Harry for any hidden injuries. No bones seemed to be broken, and the majority of the damage appeared to be bruises. He was pleased to see he hadn't hurt Harry too badly.

There was one cut on Harry's hand, and Merlin set up the instruments he needed for sutures as he tried to recall what could have caused the laceration. The lamp? No, that had shattered onto him, his prickling neck reminded. The windows were barred, so Harry hadn't been able to smash them. Ah, it was probably the nozzle to the nitrous oxide tank. Harry had gripped it awfully hard, and thrown it around like a mace.

Merlin carefully stitched the pad of Harry's thumb back together--the left hand, he noted with approval, but Harry would hate it all the same for hindering his dexterity. When the stitches--seven of them--were tied off and bandaged, Merlin turned to his own wounds. 

He wiped away the blood he hadn't noticed on his head, and did his best to retrieve the shards of glass from the back of his neck, where they'd slipped behind his collar. It stung, and now that the adrenaline had worn off, the pain all over his body was making itself known. He rolled his throbbing shoulder, glad it hadn't quite dislocated this time, but knew he'd be too tired to do much before long. 

He gave up on his efforts at first aid and balanced his weight on his heels, reaching one arm under Harry's legs and the other beneath his head. He exhaled as he stood, lifting Harry in his arms and placing him gently on the hospital bed. 

He took a few breaths, leaning heavily on the edge of the bed as he arranged Harry's pillows. Some of his cuts had reopened after the effort. He was tempted to climb onto the foot of the bed and sprawl every which way, passing out. 

Instead he returned to the nightstand and retrieved the tablet from the bottom drawer. He unlocked it with a few fingerprints (after one failed attempt, before he wiped the blood off his fingers) and set about lowering the security shields in place for the infirmary room. The bars retracted from the windows and Merlin heard the lock slide open in the door. 

Merlin shuffled back to Harry's bed and took a seat. He leaned against the wall, already feeling the pull of unconsciousness. His body begged for rest and his muscles ached. Cuts and bruises stung all over. 

He opened his eyes to peek at Harry one more time. He looked relatively unscathed compared to Merlin, but his eyelids were screwed shut, scrunching against the light of sunrise coming through the window. 

Merlin knew that orderlies and doctors would be rushing in any moment, once they'd realized the door was unlocked. Still, he rose to his feet and limped over to the window, reaching up for the curtains. Something pulled in his middle, an ache that turned to a burn, and he could feel his body's clock winding down, determined to force rest whether he consented or not. He suddenly realized he hadn't slept in days, and yanked hard to close the curtains.

He turned to Harry and saw his face relax. The light wouldn't bother him anymore. Merlin nodded, satisfied, and collapsed.

***

"They look so peaceful," Roxy whispered, standing at the foot of Merlin's hospital bed.

Eggsy turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "They're both beaten to bloody pulps, Rox."

Harry and Merlin were each in hospital beds, a few feet apart from each other. Harry's hand was bandaged, his pajamas torn. His face was peppered with small cuts and bruises, and he had a split lip. Merlin had his arm strapped tightly to his body, a result of fighting with a recently dislocated shoulder. His once-crisp white sleeves were rolled up, rumpled and flecked with blood. His arms and neck had scores of scrapes and cuts on them, the worst hidden behind bandages. The left side of his face was dark with bruising. 

"I mean," Roxy explained, "they look so calm, like they've got nothing to worry about now. It's nice to see their faces untroubled for once."

Eggsy nodded and looked back at Harry. "They're okay to be together, right? Harry's not going to wake up and choke the life out of Merlin while he sleeps?"

Roxy walked over to him and picked up the medical chart at the foot of Harry's bed. "No, according to his blood tests his hormones are level, and his brain is functioning normally, so everything should be back in check."

Eggsy sighed. "Good. I'm not saying I can't kick his ass or anything," Roxy snorted at him, "but it was getting old, you know?"

"I know."

They both turned their gazes back to the older men before them. In the time they'd been talking, Merlin had rolled onto his right side (the good arm, Roxy noted thankfully) and stretched his arm out off the bed. Harry, too, had managed to squirm to the very edge of his own bed, reaching out across the empty distance facing Merlin. 

Their hands were very close to touching.

"You don't suppose they've got a nice king-size mattress around here, do you?" Eggsy asked, turning to Roxy with a smirk.

"I don't think Dr. Marshall would appreciate his patients being moved..." She answered. "Then again, he didn't appreciate Merlin locking himself in with a homicidal agent, either. And we can't really do much worse than that." 

The pair grinned at each other and hurried from the room.

They scoured the halls of HQ. The bunks the recruits had slept on were too small, probably narrower than the hospital beds. Eggsy managed to find a sort of couch that dropped down from the wall in Merlin's workshop, discovered when he thunked against a spot beside the weapons. 

"Doesn't anybody appreciate sleep around here? A little luxury wouldn't kill em," he said, bouncing on Merlin's couch.

"I think Arthur did!" Roxy called to him from Arthur's sitting room. 

As Eggsy entered the room, the leather armchairs and heavy oaken desk cleared to the sides, as if pulled by invisible strings. Roxy had her hand on a hat rack, pulling down the leftmost hook. From the ceiling an enormous bed descended, held aloft by what must be some very sturdy draperies. 

With a gentle thump the grand bed landed in the center of the room. Roxy released the hook and joined Eggsy beside the bed. It was an enormous four-poster, larger even than king-size. The sheets glimmered like diamonds beneath a heavy, silk quilt. The goosefeather pillows looked softer than any actual goose Eggsy had ever seen.

"Well, we only need the mattress, right?" Eggsy said and began tugging the gigantic bed off its frame. Roxy stopped gaping and helped. Between the two of them (and after a few close calls on the stairs to the infirmary) they wrestled the bed onto the two tiny infirmary frames, jammed together while Merlin and Harry slept on the floor on their little hospital mattresses.

The young agents heaved the older men back into place, tucked into the expansive quilt, able to reach each other at last.

Eggsy smiled at them for a moment, catching his breath after all the lifting. 

"I suppose we should get some sleep of our own," Roxy said. They'd spent the better part of the night trying to track down who took Tom Bergan. A review of security footage and a lot of footwork turned up nothing. 

Eggsy nodded. "Yeah, I think we've done enough for one night. Or day," he corrected, adjusting a curtain that had peeked open during the mattress-wrangling. 

He looked down at Harry and Merlin, bloodied and bruised, but snuggled up close. Merlin's good arm was flung over Harry's chest. Harry's head leaned against his. 

"At least we did something right today, eh Rox?"


	6. Chapter 6

Merlin struggled to wake up. He felt the insistent press of light on his eyelids, but the dark of unconsciousness continued to call. He felt a warm presence next to him, and his eyes snapped open as he remembered. 

He saw Harry sitting up in bed beside him, his brown eyes clear and lucid. He was bent over a tablet--Merlin's tablet. "Harry?"

Harry turned to him, looking him up and down. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, of course." Merlin frowned. "What's wrong?"

Harry turned back to the tablet, unable to look at Merlin. He cleared his throat. 

"I'd like to resign my position as a Kingsman agent."

"You what?!" Merlin shot upright in bed and winced. He clutched at his ribs. 

Harry grasped his shoulders firmly and pushed him back down. "What the devil are you doing, Bill? You've got two broken ribs, for Christ's sake."

Merlin narrowed his eyes at Harry. "Why do you want to quit?"

Harry looked genuinely surprised. "I don't want to quit. It's simply what I must do."

"And why is that?"

Harry picked up the tablet and held it in front of Merlin. It was playing back the feed from Merlin's glasses when Harry attacked him on the plane. 

"Harry..."

"I don't even remember this," Harry said quietly. "I remember the church," he shuddered slightly, "but I don't remember this at all. And whatever the hell happened in here." He gestured at the room. The staff had cleaned it up for the most part, but there were still marks on the walls where powerful punches had gone off-path. Glass fragments on the floor glittered under the florescent lights.

"Harry, you weren't in control. It was Valentine, all of it," Merlin struggled to sit up again. Harry pulled some pillows from the vast expanse of the bed and propped them up behind Merlin. 

"The doctors already told me. But it doesn't matter. I've seen the footage." At Merlin's questioning look Harry explained. "I activated the emergency protocol on your tablet, using my retina scan you programmed in."

Merlin scowled. "The one I put in place in case I died? The absolute last resort, HQ is falling down around your ears, and you can't survive without my data protocol?"

Harry had the decency to look abashed. "I'm sorry... It's just that I woke up, and you were--" he waved a hand at Merlin's bandages. "And I was--" he turned his gesture on his own torn pajamas. Merlin's gaze softened somewhat. "The doctors weren't telling me anything, until I confronted them with the footage and demanded answers."

Merlin sighed. "Here I've been sleeping all day and you've already gone around hacking and confronting and demanding."

Harry looked at him and said sternly, "I also heard about the stunt you pulled. What were you thinking, locking yourself in here knowing what I was capable of? Dr. Marshall said he could have worked the toxins out of my body over time, with me safely restrained."

Merlin huffed. "If you really think I'd let you suffer, laying here in pain day after day, lapsing in and out of homicidal rages, when I could have taken it all away," the sternness left Harry's face as Merlin spoke, "then you don't know me very well."

If Merlin could have crossed his arms he would have. Instead he settled for squirming irritably and settling his furious gaze on the tablet between them. Harry too looked at the tablet, which was showing Harry atop Merlin, unrelentingly thrashing him. 

Merlin reached out with his good arm and clasped Harry's bandaged hand. Harry squeezed. 

"I'm sorry this happened, Harry. I know how hard it must be for you--" Harry snorted but Merlin went on, "but like I said, you had no control over it. You can't hold yourself responsible, and you can't quit."

"I bloody well can and will," Harry said, but softly. "I know there was nothing I could do, I'm no fool. But how could I go on every day, reporting to HQ, accepting missions, when I know what I've done to some of my fellow agents? How could anyone take me seriously ever again?"

"Harry, come on," Merlin started but Harry interrupted. 

"No, Bill, I mean it. I hereby resign my title of Galahad. Eggsy can have it. He deserves it."

Merlin opened his mouth to speak, but closed it when he found himself unable to articulate all he wanted to say. Harry had only been awake for a few hours. He needed more time to process things. Perhaps if he let go of his responsibilities as an agent, he could focus on healing and, in time, forgive himself. 

"Alright, Harry. For now," Merlin emphasized, "you can resign. But don't expect me to revoke your clearance when you'll be back to work in a few weeks, once I'm less battered-looking and you can get that hangdog look off your face."

Harry smiled, a little sadly. "I wouldn't dream of giving up all my clearance," he joked, leaning back and stroking Merlin's arm. "Where would I get the free suits?"

Merlin laughed and swatted lightly at Harry's hand. "Twat," he said fondly.

***

Time passed and the world kept spinning. The doctors released Harry from the infirmary within the week, but made no effort to get rid of him when he stayed at Merlin's side. Merlin healed slowly, despite his best efforts. His shoulder returned almost to normal, his ribs were taped for what felt like ages, and some pesky internal bleeding turned up and was resolved in its course.

Eggsy and Roxy visited. They listened to Harry's decision to resign with remarkable restraint, not speaking until he had finished. When he did stop talking, they turned to each other, turned back to Harry and answered, simply, "No." 

It deteriorated from there. On one particularly sunny day, as Merlin was trying to escape the constant prodding of Dr. Marshall, Roxy suggested they take a leisurely walk around the grounds. They all strolled along the paths, Merlin enjoying the fresh air with Roxy at his elbow. They discussed tech and weapons modifications as Harry and Eggsy hung back a few feet, walking in strained silence. 

"They're all calling me Galahad now, y'know," Eggsy said.

Harry didn't react, merely kept looking ahead at the pair in front of them. "Good," he finally said. "That's your codename, after all."

"This ain't right. You're Galahad. I'm not taking your bloody job because you're too butthurt to get back to work."

Harry's eyebrow quirked. "We've been through this, Eggsy," he warned, his voice low.

"Well, let's go over it again, shall we?" Eggsy ticked off points on his fingers. "Valentine controls your mind to kill a bunch of--bigoted, racist, scummy--people in a church and you feel all sick inside. Understandable, but not your fault. Valentine, again, controls your mind by pretending to kill you, keeps you locked up, and uses you as a last fuck-you to the Kingsmen should we kill him, which we did. You attacked us as a result, which was also not your fault, and no one died anyway. I get it, it's a lot to deal with. But none of us would change a thing, especially Merlin," he said when Harry opened his mouth to protest. "He knew what he was doing, and he's a grown man. He wanted to help you, and he did. You can't take that away from him with your guilt."

"Look, Eggsy, I can't just return to duty after what I've done. How would the other agents think of me? I could never be like them again. I'm different now."

Eggsy stopped walking and turned to Harry, who stood still. "You once told me there's no use comparing yourself to other blokes, right? The point is to be better than yourself."

"Hemingway said that, not me, and that's some fairly generous paraphras--"

"I don't give a fuck!" Eggsy interrupted, throwing his arms up. Merlin and Roxy turned around, walking back from where they'd gotten ahead. "You can either pull yourself up and do your best to be better than you were before, or you can bloody well give up." Roxy and Merlin joined them, but Harry continued to stare ahead, his lips a thin line. 

"I made my choice," Eggsy said, quieter now. "You need to make yours." He turned and stalked off.

***

A week passed in much the same way. Eggsy and Roxy cast glances and remarks at Harry, who put on a chipper attitude like a mask. Merlin healed some more and was finally cleared to do some work, and leave the infirmary.

Harry insisted he stay with him so he could keep Merlin safe, despite the irony.

Merlin stood in the doorway of Harry's living room, straightening his vest. His left arm was still wrapped up, but no longer in a sling. His various sprains were healing nicely. 

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" He asked the back of Harry's head. "We're choosing the new Arthur."

Harry closed the book he had been reading and turned around in his chair. "No, thank you. I'm no longer a Kingsman, and as such shouldn't be attending meetings, let alone voting on a leader."

Merlin took a step forward. "They'd take you back in a second. You just have to say the word."

Harry turned back to his reading. "I'll see you when you get back."

Merlin frowned, and left.

Around the table sat Eggsy and Roxy on one side, facing Merlin and Percival on the other. It was rare for four Kingsmen to be in London at the same time. Eggsy and Roxy were mainly working on tracking down Tom Bergan, so they were still in town. Merlin was healing, obviously, and Percival had flown in for the vote, having just completed his mission in Cairo.

"And then I took off the wig and they were all rather disappointed I wasn't Diamond Dust, stripper extraordinaire," Percival said.

The others laughed, but were silenced by a sound from the painting above the table. Eggsy and Roxy turned around to crane their necks at it. 

On the screen was Tom Bergan, flanked on both sides by the other Kingsmen.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I've been sick off and on for weeks but I'm back now.

Merlin cursed under his breath, whipping out his phone, already typing wildly as Eggsy flung questions at the glowing image above him.

"The fuck is going on here? You've found Bergan?"

On the screen, Tom Bergan smiled. "No," he answered, "it's more of a business arrangement."

A blond man stepped forward, pulling Bergan behind him by the shoulder. "That's enough, boy." Tom Bergan's smile slipped.

Merlin looked up long enough to see who it was.

"Pellinore," Percival nearly spat beside him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Merlin tapped his phone a few more times and reached up. He twisted the apparatus in the arm of his glasses and hoped Harry was still reading at home. Merlin had removed any trackers in Harry's own pair, and disabled their ability to transmit video, but he convinced Harry to keep them for use as reading glasses.

"They've been made specifically for you, and besides," Merlin had insisted, "they look damned good." Harry had smirked and put the glasses back in his pocket.

At the time, Merlin felt a pang of guilt, knowing the glasses were programmed to receive audio-visual feeds from his own pair, should it be necessary. But now he was justified.

Merlin looked up again as Pellinore answered, trying to aim his glasses so Harry would see everything, while tapping frantically at his phone, trying to block any attempts at a hack of the shop's security.

"It's no use, Merlin," Pellinore called from within the frame of the false painting. "Tom here is the best and brightest when it comes to tech, and he's on our side now."

"And what side would that be?" Roxy called up.

Pellinore looked down at her. "Quite the loyal pups you've got there, chaps."

The other men in the frame chuckled--three other Kingsmen, plus Pellinore and Bergan. Eggsy and Roxy wore twin scowls.

"It's a shame, really. They'd have made great agents if they'd been molded by the right people. Even the mutt that killed Arthur."

"He had it coming," Percival said as Eggsy opened his mouth to answer. Merlin continued tapping an erratic rhythm into the smartphone.

"You'll pay for that," Pellinore snarled. "Arthur was our leader, and he had the right idea. We'd met with Valentine as well, but Arthur wouldn't allow us to wear the chip implants in case--" his voice faltered slightly and a man with thick brown hair and bright green eyes stepped forward.

"In case anything happened," he finished. "We locked ourselves in secured rooms and rode out the effects of Valentine’s plan. Tristan and Dagonet built our bunkers, eh fellas?" He looked over at the other two men standing behind Bergan.

"Alright, Gawain, they don't need to hear the details," Pellinore stepped forward again, his voice cold once more. "Anyway, I haven't got time to chat, especially with the likes of them. Good luck in the afterlife, mates."

And with that the screen flickered off.

Eggsy stood abruptly, his chair falling to the ground. "Sod ‘em all, we can take them."

"If they were here, perhaps," Merlin muttered, focusing on the little screen in his hands.

"Can you get it? Can you keep them from hacking HQ and the shop?" Percival asked, leaning over to look at the phone.

A hiss sounded behind them, and everyone but Merlin turned around. The windows were sealing themselves shut. Roxy ran for the door to the meeting room but was met with the slam of metal hitting the ground. The door was sealed shut, the security protocols already taking effect.

Merlin’s phone chirped, an angry little buzzing sound. He stiffened, his hands slowing their frantic pace.

He looked up. "I can't keep them out, because they're already in. They're attacking from Headquarters."

A thunk sounded above them. The vents to the room began to ooze gas.

***

Harry stretched, slowly making his way back from the kitchen, a steaming mug in his hands. His glasses lay atop the open book, chirping something he couldn't make out.

Harry paused, narrowing his eyes at them. They'd been silent for weeks now. He’d nearly forgotten their original purpose. Merlin had assured him his feed had been removed. Perhaps they were trying to include him in the voting after all? No, he thought as he reached for the glasses. Merlin respected his decision. This could only be an emergency.

He slid the glasses into place and was met with the sight of Gawain, Tristan, Dagonet, and Pellinore. And was that Tom Bergan in the background? What the devil--?

"You'll pay for that," Pellinore barked on the screen. Harry could tell he was seeing through Merlin’s glasses, the top of a smartphone barely visible at the bottom of his feed. "Arthur was our leader, and he had the right idea.”

The mug in Harry’s hand fell to the floor and shattered.

“We'd met with Valentine as well, but Arthur wouldn't allow us to wear the chip implants in case--"

Before Pellinore had finished his sentence, Harry was bolting out the front door.

***

"Percival, give me your handkerchief," Merlin said.

"Now is hardly the time to be accessorizing, Merlin," Percival said, handing over the cloth all the same.

Merlin unfolded the red fabric and laid it out on the table. "Pay close attention, we don't have time to repeat this."

The other three Kingsmen focused on Merlin's hands as he twisted the handkerchief certain ways, folding and unfolding in bizarre combinations of movements. He shook it out with a flourish, and the once-limp cloth grew stiff. It inflated in the middle and a small tube emerged.

"It's a rebreather. It can only recycle oxygen for so long, so use it sparingly. Set it up and we can try to find a way out."

Merlin returned Percival's former handkerchief to him and set about looking for an exit.

"What about you, Merlin?" Roxy asked, carefully unfolding her gold handkerchief.

Merlin waved a hand away, pulling a jeweler’s magnifier out of his pocket with the other hand. He turned it in the center, thenclicked a few pieces into place. It looked like the bottom half of a gas mask. Merlin attached it to his face with a length of wire pulled out of his watch.

“And when were you going to tell us about these life-saving devices in our pockets, chum?” Eggsy asked.

“They’re just prototypes, very early experiments,” Merlin said, lifting his mask for a moment. “I don’t actually know if they’ll work,” he finished darkly.

The air grew thick with fumes as the Kingsmen divided up and searched for a way to escape.

***

Harry rounded the corner into the shop and bounded up the stairs. In his glasses, he saw the gas pouring from the vents and redoubled his efforts to reach the meeting room.

He skidded to a halt in front of the solid metal security door. He cursed and leapt out the window to get outside. He landed in the courtyard, thankful the security locks for each room were on different programs. On his lens, he saw Merlin demonstrating how to use a Kingsman handkerchief as a rebreather.

Harry ran around to the outside of the meeting room. He banged against a window, frustrated when they didn't budge.

"Harry!" Merlin's voice came through in his ear. Harry looked up at Merlin's face, clouded by the thick air in the meeting room. Harry darted across the courtyard and grabbed an ax, which he swung against the window.

Merlin shook his head, his disapproval evident even around the grey gas mask. "They're bullet-proof, Harry. You know that."

Harry threw the ax to the ground. "Well what the bloody hell _can_ I do?"

The other three crowded around Merlin, looking at Harry on the lawn. He'd never felt so useless.

Merlin answered, quietly, "They've hacked all my security measures, Harry. They had inside knowledge of my programming, and I thought of everything." He gestured at the windows, the door.

Harry saw the calm in Merlin's face, the acceptance, and felt an anger he couldn't name. He refused to be defeated.

"There must be something you didn’t think of, Merlin. You're not bloody perfect, you know!"

***

Merlin lifted the half-mask to retort, but replaced it again, his brow furrowing. He cast his eyes around the room, trying to see it in a new light. He looked at the room as he had when he originally programmed the security measures, when he was young and eager to prove himself, like Bergan.

The windows and doors were obvious. The special efforts he went to to seal them, less so. No, he thought, pulling himself away from the train of thought, they were impenetrable.

The vents had been sealed off at the other end, of course, in order to release the gas. He'd never thought it would need to be used, except in a desperate situation, where the shop had been invaded and the Kingsmen were under attack. He'd have snorted at the irony if he could have spared the air.

"Mate, can't we just blow a hole in the wall or sommat?" Eggsy asked.

Roxy swatted at him. "Let him bloody focus!"

Distracted by the interruption, Merlin tried to return to his former mindset. He was thinking like an older man, not like someone young and impatient like Eggsy or Bergan. Or myself, he thought, when Arthur put me in charge of the security measures back when I was starting out.

Merlin's eyes darted back and forth over the room, seeking any weakness a young man wouldn't have considered. The gas-spouting vents, the barred windows, secure metal-shielded doors, all blatantly showy. Obvious. What was more subtle, something he wouldn't have thought to look at?

Merlin's vision began to blur, and he could see Roxy and Eggsy leaning heavily against the mahogany table. It felt impossibly hot, although the room was temperature-controlled. The fireplace tucked in the corner was just for show, an addition Arthur had felt necessary.

The fireplace. Merlin ran across the room, sliding over on his knees for the last few feet. He clawed away the grate and coals to reach the back wall. He rapped his knuckles against it. Brick.

Harry clutched the windowpane. "What is it? The fireplace?"

Merlin nodded, unable to spare any more breath. He began prying off cufflinks from the agents, who had gathered behind him. They caught on and plucked off every piece of micro-weaponry on them, pressing them against the brick wall of the fireplace.

"Other side," Merlin wheezed to Harry. Harry was already gone, having torn off across the courtyard and back into the shop.

"Follow me!" He barked at James, the grey-haired man behind the counter. James knew better than to question a Kingsman agent sprinting past, so he merely reached for the shotgun he kept under the counter and followed.

Harry stopped in Arthur's office. It was smaller than his proper study at Headquarters, merely a place to work when waiting for a meeting at the shop. But Harry knew it was well-stocked, should Arthur ever find himself trapped or attacked.

Harry tapped the wall at the right spot and the wood paneling slid away to reveal a typical set of Kingsman weapons--with the addition of some more powerful grenades. He grabbed one and placed it against the wall in the brick fireplace, the opposite side of its twin in the meeting room.

He knew Arthur liked his fireplaces and hoped they were precisely attached, one flue for both grates, sharing a brick wall with the meeting room. He took a breath, wishing he could see what was going on on the other side of the wall, and pulled the pin from the grenade.

"Merlin, now!" He shouted, taking cover with James behind Arthur's old desk.

He'd barely gotten behind it when the fireplace exploded. On the other side of the wall, Merlin activated the detonators, and the force was overwhelming. The shockwave pushed both outwards and inwards, obliterating the brick dividing the two fireplaces.

The air filled with dust. Harry's ears were ringing, but he leapt over the desk and ran to the hole where the fireplace had been. He pulled away the debris, shoveling out as much as his arms could hold. James joined him and together they cleared away the rubble.

Merlin's face greeted his. He smiled, the makeshift gas mask in his hand. "Hullo, Harry. Good of you to join us."

Harry held out a hand to pull Merlin through, but Merlin backed away, shoving the younger agents ahead of him. Harry could see the huge mahogany table overturned behind them, splintered from the blast.

One by one the agents were pulled out of the toxic meeting room and into Arthur's study. When Merlin came through, Harry gave him a light shove, leading the man to windows, which James had opened.

"I thought you said my glasses had all feeds removed."

Merlin laughed, coughing. "I said they had your feeds removed. Mine, however..."

"Of course. How very sneaky of you," Harry said, smirking as he eased Merlin down beside the others, who were gulping in fresh air from the windows.

"I've never been so grateful for a handkerchief in my life," Percival said. "You know how much I hate to color-coordinate."

"I'll wear whatever Merlin tells me from now on, I swear," Eggsy gasped.

"That goes double for me," Roxy said. "I can only imagine the options he has for women's accessories."

Harry looked at the agents in front of him. Eggsy had a bump on the back of his head, probably from a piece of brick that had gone flying. Percival's hands were scraped and bleeding. Roxy's hair was mussed, her face smudged with dirt and blood. Merlin sported enough cuts and brick-dust for the lot of them. They were all rumpled and bloody, not to mention pale from a lack of clean air.

Harry saw before him his colleagues, his friends. His family, even. The only people who really knew him. And they'd nearly all been lost in one fell swoop.

"Well I don't know about you lot," James said, his shotgun slung over his shoulder, "but I haven't heard that many explosives go off in the shop since back in ’87, when Harry and Merlin tried to--."

"Yes, James, we remember," Harry interrupted eagerly.

"I want to hear more about this Great Explosion of ‘87," Eggsy said.

"Now may not be the best time for that story," Harry said as James opened his mouth.

"Oh yeah? What's it time for then?" Eggsy asked, rubbing at the bump on his head.

Harry grinned and looked at them all. "It’s time to storm the castle."


	8. Chapter 8

The sound of fingers hitting keyboards filled the room. The clacking and tapping echoed off the thick cement walls of Harry's bunker. He'd originally built it after a Kingsman target had proven more equally matched than expected and attacked Harry's home after discovering the address. 

It had never been meant for long-time entertainment, merely survival. There was little to do besides wait out the threat. 

Merlin, Roxy, and Percival each flinched when their steady stream of typing was interrupted by the meaty thwack of a spitball being lodged on the ceiling. 

"That's a good one, mate! Right over my head," Eggsy said, staring up at the spitball with admiration. 

"Why thank you," Harry said, making a half-bow from where he sat on a desk, one leg curled up to his chest, the other dangling off the edge. 

"Do you mind?" Percival asked, turning slowly in his chair and giving a hard look to the agents across the room.

Eggsy sat up from where he'd been lounging on the cot beside Harry's desk. "Of course not! Sorry, chap, carry on!"

Percival turned back to his screen slowly, keeping his eyes on Eggsy for as long as he could.

Eggsy shifted closer to Harry where he sat propped on the desk. "I bet I could hit Percy," he whispered. "Oooh," he cooed, aiming his straw at the backs of the more technically-inclined agents. "Or Merlin..."

"You'll do no such thing," Harry said lightly, but his gaze slipped sideways to Eggsy in warning. 

"Alright, alright, I'm just having a bit of fun." Eggsy stood and paced for a few moments, but soon gave up and threw himself back onto the cot with a loud squeak of springs. 

"Ughhh," he groaned. "Why do we have to stay down here?"

"You know damn well why," Harry answered. "Because the shop is compromised, headquarters is full of agents Arthur turned before he died, and honestly, we all enjoy watching you squirm."  
"Speaking of which," Merlin said, not stopping his typing, "aren't you both supposed to be putting your energies toward coming up with the plan of attack? We can't take headquarters back with hacking and tech alone."

"I figured we'd just go in there guns blazing, as per usual," Eggsy said to Merlin's back, but Harry answered.

"He's right, Eggsy. However much I enjoy a spontaneous attack, these are our fellow Kingsmen, and they'll be ready for the usual tricks." 

With a drawn-out sigh, Eggsy shuffled over to where Harry was now poring over blueprints of headquarters.

***

Harry tossed and turned in the hotel bed. It had been paid for with cash, untraceable, by Merlin, who slept silently beside him. The other agents were scattered in rooms throughout the hotel as well, unwilling to sleep in the bunker but unable to return to their homes.

It was their faces that flicked through Harry's mind, lightning-quick flashes of his friends layered over foes. Eggsy, followed by the lisping face of Valentine. Roxy, taking aim at a target just behind Harry. He could feel the crosshairs approaching him and bristled. Roxy turned into Gazelle, and Harry launched himself at her, ducking her deadly appendages. 

But as he tackled her to the ground, she shifted forms into Percival, grinning manically. Harry writhed to get off of the agent, but Percival laughed with a deep voice that wasn't his own. His face faded away into Pellinore's, and Harry struggled against his grip. Pellinore put a knife to Harry's throat, a weapon that had materialized out of nowhere. 

Flames danced at the edges of his vision. "They'll all die," Pellinore said, still grinning. Harry reached for the knife at his throat but found it had turned into a grenade, the pin already pulled. 

He leapt away from Pellinore, trying to free himself, but found it was Merlin holding the explosive. He looked up at Harry, who had jumped and rolled feet away, into the darkness where the flames couldn't reach him.

"Harry?" Merlin called, his eyes wide. 

"No!" Harry ran to Merlin, but it was too late. The world burst into fire and a suffocating silence. He was thrown back into a wall he couldn't see, and when he managed to turn around, there was nothing but a pair of glasses left in the middle of the darkness.

"HARRY! Oof."

Harry's head snapped up. He wasn't in the darkened room. There was no fire licking at his blood, no fever driving him to blindness. 

There was, however, a pile of blankets on the floor that squirmed irritably. 

The blankets coughed. "Bloody hell, Harry," it wheezed. "Next time, could you aim for the pillows?"

Harry leapt off the bed, untangling his legs from where they were twisted in starched hotel sheets. He reached out with trembling hands and dug until Merlin's head popped free of the blankets. 

Harry wrapped his arms around Merlin and held his head tight to his chest. Merlin could feel Harry's heart pounding through his pajama shirt, damp with sweat.

"It's all right, Harry. You're safe, we're both safe."

Harry merely clutched tighter. 

Some moments later, sleep abandoned, Harry and Merlin sat back on the bed, cups of tea steaming on the bedside tables. Harry tried to keep one eye on Merlin while reaching for his cup, but failed, settling to press his leg against Merlin's. He knew it was irrational, and he'd always respected Merlin's space and his ability to take care of himself in any situation, but that didn't stop the fear from clawing through his chest, dark and needy.

Merlin settled his hand on Harry's thigh. "You're just stressed, love. It'll all be over soon and things will be back to normal. As normal as we ever get, anyway." Merlin smiled but Harry stared at him, his lips a tight line.

"What if--" he started, then cleared his throat. "What if the toxins aren't gone?" Merlin opened his mouth to protest, but Harry continued. "Or what if there's another chip, something we missed? I killed all those people," he said quietly. "I nearly killed you, and Eggsy."

"Harry," Merlin squeezed his leg. "It's all gone, the toxins, the microtransmitters, Valentine, everything. You're safe now. You hear me?" He tilted Harry's head up from where it had been bowed. "You're Harry Hart, you're a Kingsman agent, and you're a good man."

Merlin reached his other hand up to smooth a lock of hair out of Harry's face. 

"What if the assault on headquarters sets me off? If something deep inside responds to the violence and reverts to that state, that need to kill?" His face wrinkled in distaste.

Merlin dropped his hand and cocked his head sideways. "Lord, Harry, you're not a monster. You were drugged and controlled, for Christ's sake. You're Harry now. There is no secret animal inside of you, searching for blood."

Harry ruffled his hair, making it stick up every which way, worse than it had been from tossing and turning in his sleep. "I just can't face the thought of hurting you again."

Merlin patiently ran a hand through Harry's hair, scratching lightly at his scalp and pushing the mess back into some semblance of order. "You can't hurt me, Harry. You should know that by now. After all we've been through, we can't break each other. Besides," he said, lighter now, "you may be faster but I'm stronger. I have the advantage."

Harry's mouth quirked into a half-smile, some of the anguish leaving his eyes. "I don't know about that, Bill. Last I checked, I could still best you in hand-to-hand."

"Oh, please," Merlin waved a hand dismissively. "The real test is in the field, when the adrenaline's going."

Harry grabbed Merlin's hand and held it. He rested his head on Merlin's shoulder and closed his eyes.

***

The next day, Harry and Eggsy finalized their plan of attack while Merlin, Percival, and Roxy continued the digital siege.

"How hard would it be to get our hands on a few bazookas?" Eggsy asked.

"You'd just have to walk about ten paces that way," Harry answered, pointing to the opposite end of the bunker. 

Eggsy nearly jumped up and down in delight. "You Kingsman and your secret walls of weapons! It's like Christmas every day."

Harry smiled, but turned at the sound of someone entering the room. 

"Your shoes have been properly polished and your suits pressed and hung, Harry," James said, standing stiffly in the doorway. "Would you like your handkerchiefs ironed as well, or do you genuinely prefer them in that wrinkled heap atop your bureau?"

"James," Harry began, walking over to the older man, "you don't have to do these things, you know. You're not a bloody butler."

"It is my duty to serve the Kingsmen," the greying man said solemnly, "and as the shop is closed up, and your wardrobe is being mistreated, I am more than happy to repair the issues."

Harry crossed his arms. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of my own--"

He broke off at the sound of a beeping from Merlin's computer. 

He rushed over and crowded around the monitor with everyone else. "Is it them?"

Merlin typed furiously, tracing the signal that had tried to get into their net. Lines of code whizzed by, faster than Harry could read them. 

Merlin shook his head. "It's not our real alarm, not the true security we've put in place. It's an alert that someone tried to cross the barrier and hack into the decoy network we've established. It wouldn't fool someone like Bergan, couldn't keep him out, but someone with less technical expertise could try to get into it. Someone like--"

Dagonet's face appeared in a box at the corner of the screen. "Hello? Is anyone there? Harry? Merlin? Perc? You've got to help me."

The agents all stood silently, craning over Merlin and looking at each other. Merlin had eyes only for the blinking box in the middle of Dagonet's transmission. "Video call - ACCEPT or REJECT?"

"A trap?" Percival said, looking at Harry. 

Harry pursed his lips. "I don't think he's clever enough for that."

"Of course, the others could be using him as bait, counting on you to think that," Roxy chimed in.

Harry nodded in concession of her point. 

"They can't get into our network through this link either way. I'm taking it," Merlin said decisively. Eggsy groaned, but otherwise no one protested.

"Roxy, Percival, monitor the failsafes we've put into our network. If any of them are tripped, go into full defensive mode. He could be trying to distract us while the others gain access. Harry, Eggsy, stay out of sight. He doesn't need to know how many of us are left."

They all did as he directed, and Merlin returned his gaze to the computer. He accepted the call. 

"Merlin! You're alright!" Dagonet's pale face lit up. He had bags around his eyes, dark and heavy. His hair was disheveled, and his shoulders were tense. 

"What do you want, Dagonet?"

"Right. I don't know what else I expected. Of course you wouldn't be happy to see me after... After what we did." The dark-haired man deflated a little.

"I haven't got time for a sappy reunion," Merlin said.

"I know, I know," Dagonet raised one hand placatingly. "Look, I'm sorry." He looked over his shoulder.

"And I'm supposed to forgive you, after you poisoned the lot of us? Your fellow agents, your allies?"

"No, of course not, it's just that," Dagonet ran one hand through his already mussed hair, "this wasn't the plan. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I just, I wanted to prove myself to Arthur, to show him I had what it took to be one of his favorites. You know how he was."

Merlin frowned. It was true, Arthur had always treated Dagonet like a joke. Never an impeccable agent, but good enough to stay on. He didn't have the gutsy daring of Harry, who butted heads with Arthur but had at least earned the man's respect. Nor did he have the tactical planning skills of Gawain, the charm and allure of Tristan, or the calculating mind of Pellinore, Arthur's favorites. 

"Arthur didn't adore me either but I didn't betray the Kingsmen and everything we stand for," Merlin answered at last.

Dagonet looked panicked. "They didn't say anything about that! They said we'd all be involved, waiting out the effects of Valentine's plan. I didn't know you were all left behind until we were already in the bunker, and by then Arthur was killed and Pellinore was off on a rampage. I couldn't very well slip out the back, could I?"

"You didn't have to go on with their bloody plan," Merlin spat, growing visibly tense. "You could have found a way back, or gotten the information to us. Or died. I'd have died before betraying my fellow agents like you did."

Merlin heard a noise behind him and knew without looking that it was Harry shifting from foot to foot. 

Dagonet bowed his head. When he looked up, his eyes were clear and his voice calm. "You're right, Merlin. I was afraid, I admit it. And torn between two halves of the agency. I'd always wanted Arthur to accept me, and then Pellinore in his place. But when they went through with it, when I knew what they were going to do to you all, I panicked. I tried to stop them and they locked me up. I've only just been given free rein of the place again, because they're busy with their plans." 

Merlin answered with stony silence.

Dagonet swallowed and continued. "I can't sleep, I can't eat. I feel awful knowing I didn't stop this. You're like family to me. I just wanted to get in good with Arthur, so badly. I'm sorry, Merlin. I know there's nothing I can do to make things right, but I can't stay here and be a part of their schemes any longer. I'm getting out, one way or another," he finished darkly. 

Merlin glanced to the side, out of view of the camera, where he knew Harry was looking at him intently. Harry nodded once, and Merlin turned back to the screen. 

"I think I have a few ideas."


	9. Chapter 9

"An exploding tennis racket?!" Eggsy leapt up from his chair. "Where can I get one? Why haven't you shown me any lethal sports equipment yet?"

"Because it doesn't exist," Merlin answered, still leaning over the table in the center of the room, flicking through blueprints. 

Eggsy returned to his seat, eyeing James suspiciously. "Bet you had something to do with that?"

James perked up and smiled. "I told Arthur. Couldn't have the shop blown to bits by a couple of agents gone wild."

"I'll have to keep my eye on you, mate," Eggsy said, appraising the silver-haired man beside him. "I'm bound to get in a lot more trouble than an exploding tennis racket."

"In any case," Harry interrupted. "It wasn't the racket that exploded, but the tennis ball. It was like a grenade, without the pin. All the concussive force, but able to be detonated at your leisure by pressing a button on the handle of the racket and volleying the ball to your target. Before then it could be treated the same as an ordinary ball and racket. Rather ingenious, really," he muttered. 

Merlin snorted from where he stood over the plans. 

Harry turned and addressed Merlin's back. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thought it funny you'd find one of your own ideas ingenious, that's all. Especially after you... Nevermind."

"What? After he what?" Roxy asked, on the edge of her seat. She cleared her throat and settled back a bit, trying to regain her composure after giving away her interest in the discussion.

"After..." Merlin started, but trailed off after meeting Harry's eyes, sharp and forbidding.

"He backhanded it," Percival cooed in his silky voice. He smirked from where he sat nestled in an oversized leather armchair. Harry shot him a look that could melt stone.

"How would you know? You weren't there."

"I've heard the legends," Percival answered. "A bloody backhand gone rogue, right into the shop windows. Trying to show off, I imagine."

"He was quite keen on proving what a brilliant idea it was," Merlin said quietly, fighting the smile that threatened to overtake his face. 

Harry tutted, sinking into his chair. “I was in my twenties, for God’s sake,” he mumbled.

"And it went off?! Blew up the place?" Eggsy asked, looking at Roxy as if wondering how they could possibly top the antics of a youthful Harry Hart.

James nodded solemnly, but his eyes sparkled. "He hit the button to detonate, lobbed the ball the wrong way, smashing the window and landing right in the meeting room. Empty at the time, fortunately. I had to dose all the customers in the shop so they wouldn't remember the earth-shattering explosion."

"It was far from earth-shattering," Harry sniped. "We'd have gotten it cleaned up in no time if you hadn't called Arthur back from his trip." Looking around the room at the beaming faces surrounding him, he continued. "In any case, it isn't relevant. We need to focus on our firepower for the attack on headquarters."

"It's exactly what we need," Merlin said, flipping through the plans rapidly.

"Now you're talking," Eggsy said, joining Merlin to see the plans.

"I'm sorry," Roxy inyerjected, "but I don't see when we'd need exploding tennis balls. I don't think Pellinore is going to invite us to tea and a quick game."

Percival snorted. 

Merlin pulled out a diagram of the headquarters roof and smoothed it out on top of the pile of papers. "When we parachute in, here," he pointed to a spot in the middle of the roof, "we'll need a distraction out on the lawn."

By now everyone was crowded around Merlin, Harry frowning at his side.

"Right," Harry agreed, "which is where Eggsy and I come in, slinging various weapons." 

"Yes, but what weapons? Machine guns, grenades, even bazookas?" Merlin shook his head. "They'll be ready for that, all of it. They know what we have on-hand, and what we've been taught to use. They'll have defenses in place for anything we could throw at them. We need something different. It may not work altogether," he said, when every mouth opened to speak, "but it'll distract them for a moment, just long enough for us to get inside from the roof. Who could overlook an exploding tennis ball?"

The answering silence drove his point home. Harry shuffled. "I don't much like the idea of lobbing explosives at a building you're landing on."

Merlin answered smoothly, but his eyes were soft when they met Harry's. "It's nothing we can't handle. And besides, I'm sure your aim is excellent as always, right Eggsy?"

Eggsy snapped to attention, a wide grin on his face. "No stray explosives here!"

“Once we've infiltrated headquarters, you can go back to a more heavy-duty firefight, but the rackets come first. We have the materials. I can rig a few together by tonight,” Merlin said.

Harry's brow was still furrowed, but he relaxed his shoulders. "Can it at least be a cricket bat this time?"

"I told you before and it hasn't changed," Merlin sighed, his mouth quirking a little, "a cricket bat doesn't have the same give. That little elasticity of the racket is all that keeps the delicate mechanics in the ball from getting jumbled and activating at the wrong moment."

"Alright, alright, I know," Harry said. "So, who wants to practice their backhand?"

James sat bolt upright in his seat. "Oh dear."


	10. Chapter 10

Merlin landed first, expertly steering his parachute to the center of the roof. He cut the lines tying him to the billowing fabric and listened as it whooshed away, taken by the wind. 

Roxy landed ten feet away, taking a knee and unclipping her own chute. Percival followed shortly after and did the same. With any luck, the early morning darkness had concealed them altogether.

With a quick glance to confirm they were all there, Merlin turned back to look out over the grounds. He reached a hand up to his glasses, unnecessarily, since they were always functioning, but wanting to connect with the two agents he knew were sheltered behind a tree leading up the long driveway.

“We’ve landed. Any time you’re ready,” Merlin said.

“Copy,” Harry acknowledged. “Best of luck. Do keep your heads down.”

Merlin turned back to his small team and reiterated the plan. “I’ll need you both to help hack into their security system and disable it so we can get inside. There should be an electrical box up here we can open and use to connect to the main server. They shouldn’t notice a breach so long as they’re worrying about Eggsy and Harry.

“Once that’s finished, Percival, you’ll enter through the skylight over there, lowering yourself into the upstairs meeting room. From there, you’ll rendezvous with Dagonet, while Roxy and I fight our way through the back door.”

The two agents nodded. Merlin took one step in the direction of the electric box at the far end of the roof, but halted and said to Percival, “If he crosses us—”

He left the sentence unfinished, but Percival quickly answered. “I won’t hesitate.”

Merlin looked him up and down and nodded. Together, they circled around the large skylight in the middle of the roof and made their way to the box. Merlin pressed a small button in the screw of his glasses, and light shone from the bridge of his glasses, illuminating the box.

He turned the light off a moment later, when a barrage of explosions lit the sky.

***

“Yippee ki-yay, motherfuckers!” Eggsy shouted in his best American accent, whipping a tennis ball at the Headquarters building.

Harry smirked. Guards started rushing out the front doors, calling over their comms and looking perplexed. Throughout the complex, lights flicked on in windows and, Harry imagined, several angry faces peered out.

“Keep up, old man!” Eggsy said as he lobbed another ball aimed right at the front door. It crackled and exploded just as the guards were reaching up to deflect it.

Harry tossed two tennis balls into the air, a half-second apart. He hit the first with a standard grip, then spun around and followed with a perfect backhand, sending the second ball directly into the pile of dazed guards. They burst into little spouts of flame that looked like fireworks in the darkened sky.

“I believe I’m ahead at the moment,” he quipped.

Eggsy snorted, impressed. He reached into the metal bin of tennis balls they had behind the tree. He threw one up as high as he could and held his arms straight up above his head, the racket clutched between them.

A bold guard started running over to their makeshift cover, seeking the source of the attack. Eggsy watched as the ball fell to Earth, then he flicked at the button to activate the detonator, and struck down hard. He sliced at the air above his head with both hands clutching the racket, sending the ball hurtling toward the guard’s feet, a downward trajectory full of momentum.

The puzzled guard stopped in his tracks, then, erring on the side of caution, sprinted back towards the mansion. The ball fizzled into life and exploded, knocking the guard off his feet and face-first into the ground.

“Thirty-fifteen” Eggsy crowed.

Harry gave a small nod of acknowledgment. He reached for the bin, but his hand froze as a crackling came over their comms. Eggsy heard it too, tilting his head away from the cries of the guards in order to focus on the transmission from Merlin.

“Almost there,” Merlin said. “Although we may have company.” 

Together, Harry and Eggsy looked up to the roof, where shadows moved against the darkness, their outlines jagged from the assault rifles they carried.

“Copy that,” Harry answered. “Do you require assistance?”

A scuffling was his only answer for a moment, and they watched as two of the figures dropped over the side of the roof.

“I think my team has it covered,” Merlin said finally.

“Good. Over and out,” Harry said, his voice amused. But Eggsy saw that Harry’s eyes sought out the other shapes trooping across the rooftop.

“Hey,” Eggsy started softly, “don’t tell me your arm’s tired. Arthritis acting up? Old shoulder injury?” He quickly bounced a tennis ball off the tree, whacking it at the guards approaching them.

Harry turned back to the fight at hand and reached for more ammo. “Not a chance,” he said. He served one ball straight into the formation coming towards them, causing a hasty retreat from the guards. He followed it by tossing another ball in the air, spinning 180 degrees, and serving it over his shoulder, nonchalantly.

“Forty-thirty, game.”

Eggsy beamed, digging in the bin of tennis balls. Soon they were both just a blur of green targets and swooping motions, each serve outdoing the last. Harry couldn’t be sure in the commotion, but he thought he saw Eggsy reach behind him to hit the tennis ball from between his legs, like a basketball player showing off.

***

“Merlin?” Roxy called, dodging a rogue tennis ball that burst too close to the rooftop. The guards below had at last gotten the idea to try deflecting the balls, swatting them up towards the roof. “Are you nearly finished?”

Merlin sprung up from his position when his phone pinged. “Finished. Percival, now!”

Merlin ran to where Percival had been poised over the rooftop skylight. Together they burned a hole in the glass and rigged a carabiner to form an anchor around a stout stone pillar.

Percival clipped in to his harness and lowered himself into the empty room below. That phase of the plan complete, Merlin joined Roxy where she had been keeping lookout over the edge of the building, picking off any guards who tried to reach them.

Merlin tied their own equipment to a pillar and Roxy spoke over the comm line. “Security is down. Repeat, security is down. We’re going in.” She cast a glance over to the tree where Harry and Eggsy had at last stopped whipping tennis balls in increasingly creative ways. “You may now return to your regularly-scheduled onslaught of firearms.”

“Aw, but mum,” Eggsy whined.

“Just as you were catching up to me, too,” Harry joined. “Pity.”

Merlin and Roxy rappelled off the roof, silently bouncing against the side of the building every few feet. Once they’d reached the bottom, they crept through the shadows to the back door.

“Locked,” Roxy whispered, reaching for her belt. The agents had abandoned their customary suits for this mission, considering they’d make perfect targets for the guards. The form-fitting all-black clothes allowed them to blend in with the dark.

Roxy pulled her belt off, removing the buckle and prying it apart. She produced a makeshift lockpick and got to work on the door. Merlin huffed in amusement.

“Are you sure you’re Lancelot, and not Merlin?”

Roxy smiled over her shoulder as the door clicked, unlocked.

They stepped into the unlit entryway, easing the door shut behind them. Merlin went first, peeking around corners for hidden guards or traps. No alarms sounded, so the security systems must still have been down, crippled by Merlin’s work on the roof.

Roxy followed in his wake, taking point every so often while Merlin investigated another possible hiding place. A few feet at a time, they advanced across the room. Finally, Merlin reached the main downstairs hallway, peering up and down, choosing where to go.

He was spared the decision when heavy boots banged on the floors from both directions. Guards poured from the rooms flanking the long, dark hallway and converged on Merlin and Roxy.

“Well,” he said as their backs met, both scanning the circle of guns pointed at them, “we knew it couldn’t be that easy.”

***

“Eggsy! Is that really necessary?” Harry called to the young man while firing a machine gun into the throng of guards hurrying towards them.

Eggsy adjusted the sights of the bazooka over his shoulder. “Damn right it’s necessary! I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life.”

Harry rolled his eyes, picking up a flamethrower with his other hand. The guards were getting disconcertingly close. “Alright then, on three.”

“One, two, thr—”

Harry stopped his countdown and Eggsy twitched, as if his momentum had been halted by an invisible force. The pack of guards had all stopped in their tracks, just a few yards away from the tree where Eggsy and Harry were attacking. The man in the front of the pack leaned his head sideways, pressing an earwig, listening. He nodded sharply, then turned on his heel and ran back to the building. His men followed, all running through the front entrance.

Harry and Eggsy looked at each other, eyebrows quirked. Harry shrugged and took off, running for the front door, a weapon in each hand. Eggsy followed. “Hey, wait up! I’m still going to use this bloody bazooka if it’s the last thing I do!”

***

Percival froze, pressing his back against the wall and further into the shadows of the upstairs hallway as two armed guards rushed past. Their radios crackled and they hustled down the stairs and out of sight.

Percival frowned. He’d heard the commotion earlier, a wave of guards downstairs, but had hoped it would be over by now. He leaned towards the sounds of a struggle and fought the urge to join his fellow agents. If he went to their aid, not only would the mission be delayed, but he risked capture, which would derail the entire plan. No, he had to keep moving.

He straightened his glasses and crept down the hall, towards a large metal door at the end of the corridor. Once he reached it, he took a deep breath, hoping Dagonet hadn’t given up and alerted the guards, turning on the Kingsmen once more. Percival looked at the thick door, sealing off the safe room from the rest of the household. Dozens of thick rivets protruded from the sides, enforcing its impenetrability. A small keypad mounted on the door blinked, awaiting a ten-digit code.

Percival reached up to the door, placed his hand beside the keypad, and simply knocked.

Immediately, the door slid open, and a lone figure pulled Percival inside. Percival swatted his grabbing hands away, spinning around to take in every corner of the room, looking up to check the ceiling. When he was satisfied that it was empty besides the two of them, he turned back to Dagonet.

“Perc!” Dagonet cried, smiling. He held out his arms, as if hoping for an embrace. Percival tilted his head and placed his hands on his hips.

“Perhaps when we’re out of here and your fellow turncoats are dead or behind very thick bars, we can talk as equals,” he explained, “but at the moment, I’ve very little reason to trust you, and even less inclination not to kill you.”

Dagonet's arms fell to his sides, and he had the decency to look at the floor. “I understand.”

“Good. Now, where are they?”

***

Harry and Eggsy crouched on the landing above the fray. Merlin and Roxy were surrounded by guards, guns pointed at them. Beside him, Eggsy squirmed with the need to take action. Harry patted the young man’s shoulder, willing him to wait just a bit longer.

As predicted, Merlin and Roxy leapt into motion. Roxy jumped into the air as Merlin reached for a guard’s gun by the barrel. He swiped the gun to the side as it fired, taking out a few men beside the guard before him, as Roxy bent her legs mid-air and pushed off of Merlin’s back. She launched into the crowd of guards, wrapping an arm around the neck of the man closest to her. His colleagues fired into his body and Roxy darted out from behind him.

Merlin cracked two heads together, ducking to the ground as they fell, feeling without seeing the sights pointed at the back of his head. The bullet landed with a thunk in the wall, and Merlin spun to pull the legs out from under the shooter. The man fell into several guards that had been dispatched by Roxy.

Harry looked at Eggsy when he heard the stomping of still more boots rushing down to the fight.

“Now?” Eggsy asked

“Now,” Harry confirmed, bracing one arm on the banister as he leapt over the balcony. Eggsy followed, dropping into a crouch and shooting two guards in the kneecaps from his position on the floor.

“Good of you to join us,” Merlin grunted, lifting an unconscious guard over his head and tossing him into the oncoming hoard of men.

“Yes, well, we had to run out of tennis balls sometime,” Harry quipped, kicking a large, masked man in the chest and sending him flying.

Merlin shook his head and hid his smirk by tackling a guard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last, an update! This chapter has a lot going on, with agents in different places, so it took some time to finish. It looks like it's going to be a two-parter too, but we're approaching the end :)
> 
> Disclaimer: Some tennis details may be wrong. I took a lesson as a kid, but hit the ball too low and sent it flying right into the instructor's privates, so that's the extent of my knowledge!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters today to make up for how long it took to finish!

Percival maintained his distance a few feet behind Dagonet, unwilling to fall into any kind of trap.

“This way, just around the corner,” Dagonet whispered over his shoulder. Percival slowed and allowed himself a few more feet between them.

Dagonet turned and disappeared. Percival shivered. It was cold in the basement, a floor mainly used for the weapons testing labs. Percival knew they were heading towards storage.

He turned the corner to find Dagonet scanning his palmprint at a solid metal door. It was the area that used to be full of old furniture, out of date tech, and even some archaic weapons the Kingsmen hadn’t needed. Now it was a high-security bunker, presumably the same bunker built by Tristan and Dagonet for waiting out the V-chip chaos.

Dagonet entered the room confidently, without turning to see if Percival was still there. At least he remembered enough of his training not to give them away, Percival thought. He steeled himself for a fight and darted into the bunker just as the door was closing.

Inside, Tristan and Gawain looked up from where they’d been leaning over Tom Bergan’s shoulder at a computer monitor. Tristan looked from Dagonet to Percival and back again, his face turning red.

“Why you little shit,” he hissed, crossing the room in three long strides and pinning Dagonet to the wall with one hand.

Percival rushed at Tristan, tackling him and sending them both to the floor. Dagonet coughed, rubbing at his throat. 

Tristan kicked out from under Percival. 

"Stop it," Percival shouted as Tristan twisted in his grip, "it doesn't have to be like this."

Tristan looked up at Percival's kind face, and spat. Percival drew back, and Tristan took the momentary distraction to leverage himself up and withdraw from Percival's grip. 

Tristan leapt to his feet, kicking out at Percival's face. Percival had recovered his senses and ducked from side to side as Tristan's shoe came at him again and again. He was wary of an attack from behind, from Gawain or a traitorous Dagonet, but Gawain seemed content to monitor Tom Bergan's progress on the security systems, hands folded neatly behind his back. Dagonet watched from the corner, still rubbing at his throat where Tristan's hand had left red marks.

Percival rolled to the side as Tristan stomped at him. He reached out and grabbed Tristan's foot, trying to pull him back to the ground. He managed to throw Tristan off-balance while pulling himself up, and took advantage by landing a solid hook on Tristan's chin. 

Tristan wavered, but regained his balance, lashing out in every direction in short bursts of energy, his hands straightened like blades as they chopped towards Percival. Percival dodged as best he could, taking a few jabs to the neck and shoulder while trading kicks with the taller man. 

"You won't take us alive," Tristan hissed. 

Percival was backed up nearly to the wall, and turned to run at it. He connected, feet gripping briefly as they met wall and ran up with short, fast steps. He pushed off for a backflip, leading with one pointed foot, which connected with Tristan's head, sending him sprawling. Percival landed, feet firmly on the floor, his hands in fists guarding his face. He panted and looked at the form of Tristan on the floor, out cold.

"Well that's not really your choice, is it?" he huffed.

Squaring his shoulders, he turned back to where Gawain had been watching Tom Bergan, only to find the computer genius seated alone. Dagonet was no longer in the corner.

Percival processed this as quickly as he could, already ducking low and pushing off to the side, but an electric crackle whizzed by his ear and bit into his shoulder. His body shook with the force of the electricity, and he saw Gawain towering over him, one hand still folded behind his back as the other pressed the taser deeper into Percival's pliant muscles. 

"He's right, you know," Gawain said, almost disinterested. "No prison can hold us. And you lot don't stand--"

Percival heard a mighty thwack, and Gawain crumpled to the floor. As his vision blackened, Percival saw Dagonet standing over the body of the older man, his chest heaving, a large wrench in his hand.

***

Merlin, Harry, Roxy, and Eggsy all stood in the middle of the hallway. A ring of bodies surrounded their panting forms. One of the bodies on the floor groaned, and Eggsy kicked at him lazily, swaying on his feet. Roxy steadied him.

Harry wiped the sweat from his brow and straightened up. "This has been loads of fun, but I think we ought to see how Percival's getting on. Shall we?" 

The other agents grumbled, brushing at their various bloodstains and following at a slow march. 

They were spared the trek upstairs, however, when Dagonet came bounding down the hallway, clutching Percival's limp form as it bounced over his shoulder. 

"Harry! Merlin!" Dagonet gasped, delighted despite the assorted gun barrels and raised fists that met his arrival. He stopped a few feet from the group and turned to address Roxy and Eggsy. "And you guys! Pleasure!"

"What have you done to Percy?" Harry asked, approaching warily. 

"What?" Dagonet looked at the legs hanging from his shoulder, as if seeing them for the first time. "No! He's alright, he's only been electrocuted!"

Four heads tilted in response. "Only been electrocuted?" Harry prompted.

"Well it's like this, alright? Percy here busts in on the others, in the bunker where I took him, like you asked," this he addressed to Merlin, then turned back to Harry. "He and Tristan get in it pretty bad, saved my neck, he did. I kept my eye on Gawain, who saw fit to taser Perc into oblivion the minute he was done with Tristan. But I got him, all right. They're both upstairs, locked in the bunker."

Merlin and Harry both opened their mouths to ask a question, but were cut off by the sound of a gunshot. All at once the group was a blur of movement. Merlin and Harry tucked and rolled forward, towards the threat. Eggsy and Roxy dove to opposite sides of the corridor, taking aim over the piles of incapacitated guards. 

Percival moaned, coming to. He'd been pinned under Dagonet, who'd doubled over, shielding him with his body at the sound of the shot. 

"D-Dag?" Percival said, pushing against the weight on top of him. He pulled his hand back from Dagonet's shoulder and saw that it was slick with blood. "Dagonet?!"

He prodded for the sight of the injury but was brought back to the situation at hand by Harry calling a warning as gunfire spat at them again. Percival heaved Dagonet off of him and dragged him to safety behind Eggsy.

Percival worked on stopping the bleeding just below Dagonet’s collarbone as the two young agents opened fire. Harry and Merlin used the cover fire as an opportunity to climb up the banisters to the upper balcony, where three masked guards were ducking out of the line of fire.

Harry and Merlin reached the balcony level at the same time. They glanced at each other momentarily, as if in affirmation of a silent plan, and lunged at the two guards flanking the man in the middle.

Harry’s guard barely made a sound as they engaged in hand-to-hand combat. He didn’t cry out in pain as Harry jabbed his neck with an elbow, and remained stoically silent when met with a roundhouse kick.

Merlin’s mark was slow, his groans muffled by the mask he wore, but still audible. His fighting was sloppy, as if he’d all but given up. Merlin met his right hook with a blow to the ribs, causing the guard to double over. Merlin clasped his hands together in a knot and brought them down on the back of the guard’s head, knocking him out.

Meanwhile, the man in the center had dropped to one knee and opened fire on the agents below. Merlin dove for him, jumping over his fallen opponent. The leader turned mechanically and shot at Merlin.

He dove out of the way, but felt a searing heat skim his thigh. He flattened his back into the cover of a doorway. He pressed his hand to his thigh, searching for a bullet hole, but found only a graze.

Harry caught a glimpse of Merlin’s retreat from the corner of his eye. He spared little time for his current opponent, grabbing his leg and spilling him over the balcony and into the grasp of the agents below, before tackling the leader to the ground.

Harry took care to grab the muzzle of the man’s gun and shove it out of the way as they grappled with each other, limbs thrashing as bullets ticked past and plugged harmlessly into the ceiling above them.

Merlin joined the altercation, having dealt with the graze as best he could. Harry pinned the guard to the floor, concentrating his strength on the man’s arms. Merlin wrenched the gun from his grasp and pointed it at the man’s head.

He continued to struggle against Harry, who kneed him in the side.

“You’ve got two seconds to stop moving before we shoot you in the head,” Harry growled. “Please, give me a reason.”

At last the man ceased his movement. Harry nearly relaxed, until he felt the rumble of laughter coming from the man’s chest.

“Go ahead,” he said. “Pull the trigger. You’re all dead anyway, you bastards.”

Harry and Merlin went unnaturally still. Harry released one of the man's wrists to yank off the mask covering his face. 

Pellinore smiled back at him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The last chapter. I hope you guys enjoy :)

Harry turned and craned his neck to glance over the side of the balcony. Eggsy and Roxy were clutching the other guard between them. Eggsy pulled off the man’s mask to reveal a stoic-faced Gawain.

Merlin kept his eyes and his sights on Pellinore, pinned under Harry. “And the unconscious one? Tristan?”

Pellinore laughed. “Always so sharp, Merlin. Gold star for you.”

“What do you mean we’re all dead anyway?” Harry snapped at Pellinore, who grinned. “What do you mean?” Harry wrapped his hands around Pellinore’s throat.

“Go on, I’m not scared to die,” Pellinore answered, his words vibrating beneath Harry’s hands. “None of us are. Well, except maybe Bergan, but he doesn’t know the full plan. Stupid sod.”

“Get to the point,” Harry barked, placing his hands on either side of the man’s head and knocking it against the hardwood floor beneath them.

Pellinore’s smile was gone now. He took a deep breath and Harry could feel the rise and fall of his chest.

“Arthur had the right idea,” Pellinore began. “You lot were headed in the wrong direction, and taking the organization with you. At first only I understood him; Arthur and I always had an understanding. But soon Gawain came around, after keeping an eye on you and Merlin. It’s one thing for you to bugger each other,” at this Pellinore sneered, “but it’s another to bugger the whole operation.”

Harry's patience had run out. He thumped Pellinore’s head against the wood floor harder than before. “The point?”

Pellinore scowled at him. “The point is, you bastards were changing things. Leaving behind the old ways, the Kingsmen values. We’re here to look out for our own interests. Things were getting a little too soft around here, a little too morally-bound. Tristan came around too, once you idiots chose to recruit that mutt down there.”

“Oi!” Eggsy cried.

“Street rat,” Pellinore spat. Harry tightened his fingers around the man’s neck. Pellinore coughed. “We knew about Valentine’s plan and figured it was as good a time as any for a fresh start. We drew up the plans for the bunker and got Dagonet on board to build it. We didn’t tell him about leaving you all out, knew he was too soft. He’d never agree to splitting up the Kingsmen like that. But we figured once you were dead he’d come around. Wouldn’t have much of a choice, anyway. He always was a weak little bastard.”

“At any rate,” he continued, tilting his head in snake-like movements, squirming against Harry’s vicegrip, “after Arthur was killed we knew it was time to bump you off. And when that failed, we knew you’d come back here, knew Merlin would find a way around Bergan’s security measures. Even figured Dagonet would turned traitor, the little sop. We didn’t think you’d be so stupid to think it was this simple though.” His smirk returned at this.

Beside Eggsy, Gawain straightened and raised his chin. Roxy and Eggsy squeezed his arms all the tighter.

Pellinore flared his nostrils, gathering steam as he went on. “The whole basement is rigged with explosives. You’ll never get out of here alive.”

Harry turned his head to the side and muttered to his glasses. Pellinore shouted, caught on the momentum of his own plan.

“James, are you still there?” Harry mumbled.

“The second you pinned me, I started the timer,” Pellinore yelled, sweat beading on his forehead.

A crackle from Harry’s earpiece, then he answered, “I believe now is the time to press the big red button.”

“If we can’t run Kingsman our way,” Pellinore nearly screamed, “then there won’t be any Kingsman left.” His teeth gleamed as his lips curled in a sneering smile.

Harry looked up at Merlin and raised an eyebrow. Merlin blinked. Harry returned his gaze to Pellinore’s.

“There’s a missile headed for headquarters, Pellinore. Perhaps we’d counted on your dynamite after all.”

Pellinore’s eyes bulged and he struggled against Harry once more. “I die on my terms,” he shouted, “my terms! Kingsman dies with me!”

“Right-ho, but we haven’t got time for that, have we?” Harry answered, and calmly snapped his neck.

Merlin was off and running down the stairs once he heard the crack. Harry followed, joining the other agents on the ground level. 

"Come on, you old git," Eggsy grunted, dragging Gawain along between himself and Roxy. 

"Leave him," Harry said over his shoulder. 

"But shouldn't he be locked up, behind bars for what he's done?" Roxy asked. 

Harry turned and leveled his gaze at Gawain's lined face. The older man jutted his chin out and straightened. 

"I suspect he prefers to die with his cause. A preference I won't deny. Come on."

Harry turned ahead again, and began running at full speed. Merlin jogged alongside him, sights of the rifle snapping from side to side, prepared for any threats. 

Eggsy and Roxy released Gawain warily, afraid he'd lash out once more. But the older man just sunk to his knees and bowed his head, preparing to go down with the ship. The younger agents then back-tracked to Percival and helped him carry Dagonet. 

"Is he...?" Eggsy asked.

Percival's pale face was grim. "He's alive, for now. I've slowed the bleeding but he's unconscious. Probably hit his head trying to protect me from the bullet, little fool. Of course, we may all be obliterated by the blast, in any case," he finished cheerily.

The team was nearly at the back door, where Merlin and Roxy had broken in just an hour before. The whistling of the missile falling to earth grew louder. 

Twenty feet from the exit, a figure threw itself in their path. Merlin turned and took aim at the man's head. He nearly squeezed the trigger before he recognized the floppy hair of Tom Bergan.

The techie was sobbing. "Please, don't shoot! They left me, they left me here to die. Said we'd all leave once I got through the security hacks. They left me!" He nearly collapsed in hysterics. 

Merlin kept his gun trained on the sniveling face before him. "Harry?" He asked. 

"Grab the bloody idiot!" Harry shouted needlessly, as he yanked Tom Bergan by the collar himself. The other agents had made it out by now, Dagonet's body bouncing between them. 

"Go, goddamnit!" Harry shouted to Merlin, who was still aiming at Bergan.

Merlin ran flat-out, dropping the gun to his side at last. The sound of the incoming projectile was deafening now. 

He burst through the door, followed a few seconds later by Harry, who was half-dragging Tom Bergan by the shirt. 

"So help me, I will drop you and leave you to the apocalypse if you don't move your arse!" He shouted. Bergan finally picked up the pace, utilizing some of the energy he'd put into sobbing for running. 

Without consultation, all of the Kingsmen were heading for the shooting range across the grassy yard. Their boots thundered silently, mute under the sound of the missile above. 

Merlin reached the range first, diving over the thick lead wall that separated the shooting area from the ammunitions. He stood up again and helped lift Dagonet over the wall, handed over by Eggsy. Percival and Roxy scrambled over the side. 

The sky grew dark. Merlin looked up and saw the missile had blocked out the sun. "Harry, come on!"

Harry gave up on struggling with Tom Bergan and grabbed the young man with both arms. He lifted him bodily and tossed him over the wall, not caring whether or not he landed on his feet. Bergan squealed indignantly and Roxy managed to catch him by the shoulder and set him straight. 

The missile made contact with HQ and exploded. Flames erupted, enormous and engulfing, just as Harry leaped over the wall. The concussive force of the blast pushed him mid-jump into Merlin, who felt all the breath leave his body in a rush, but clutched Harry all the same.

The Kingsmen pushed themselves low to the ground. The blast went on for what felt like hours but was only an instant. After it stopped, they stayed low for another moment, deafened and exhausted. 

Harry popped up first. "James?" He called over the comms, after a glance to ensure the agents were all still intact. 

"Lord almighty, you didn't say it would be _that_ bloody big! I nearly had a heart attack!"

Harry smiled. "I think we'd appreciate a lift now, if you would be so kind."

James cursed under his breath and the silence was broken once again, by the chop of helicopter blades. The large aircraft set down beside the shooting range. 

"Hurry up then! I've had enough of explosions for today, thanks very much!" James called from the cockpit. 

Dagonet was gently laid out in the bed of the helicopter. Percival joined him, crouched and monitoring his heart rate. Dagonet groaned and stirred. 

"Bloody Kingsman," he muttered. "Always itching to blow something up."

Percival laughed.

Tom Bergan scrambled up, making noises like a dog during a thunderstorm.

"You weren't moving that bloody fast before!" Harry called to him. 

Eggsy pulled himself up and reached a hand down for Roxy. "M'lady," he said. "Wouldn't want to make you chip a nail." He smirked. Roxy reached up for his hand, and grabbed his forearm. She braced both hands against him and ducked, tossing him off the helicopter and onto the grass behind her with ease. She leisurely climbed aboard, and Eggsy laughed uproariously behind her before following. 

Merlin put one foot in the helicopter and grabbed the bars beside the open door. He turned to Harry, who was gazing at the smoking remains of the headquarters building. 

"Everything we knew is gone," he muttered. 

Merlin looked out at the leveled building as well. "Yes, it is. But there's always the chance we can build something better." Merlin held out a hand and jerked his head towards the helicopter. "Come on, Harry. The new Kingsman is going to need an Arthur, after all."

Harry turned to him and smirked. He allowed himself to be hoisted onto the helicopter. 

"I suppose it is," he said, watching the ruins of headquarters grow smaller as the helicopter brought them closer to London, to home, and to a new beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to everyone who read, gave kudos, or left comments. They really made my day! You've all been so great :D
> 
> And another shoutout to [SugarDoll](http://archiveofourown.org/users/SugarDoll/pseuds/SugarDoll), who is translating this fic into Chinese [here](http://www.movietvslash.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=162201&page=1#pid3186221)!


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